Maloney Metalcraft steps in to support Gabon oil facility

6 February 2014 Maloney Metalcraft steps in to support Gabon oil facility A UK manufacturer has stepped in to redesign and deliver emergency components for Shell’s Koula oil facility in Gabon, Africa, after parts failures led to the temporary shut down of the facility. Maloney Metalcraft, which is based in Aldridge, received the call one week before Christmas when Exterran – the company operating the facility – discovered fire tube failures on site.

The company has now been commissioned to redesign and manufacture firetubes for the site’s free water knockout vessels on a fast-track delivery schedule, as well as providing obround gaskets for the existing Heater Treater firetubes, which will enable the site to return to operation more quickly. Austen Adams, managing director at Maloney Metalcraft, said: “Firetubes are key components in any oil facility and, without them, the site can’t operate safely or effectively. “While it takes a certain amount of time to redesign, manufacture, ship and install components to Gabon, our design team has an excellent track record in the industry and was able to return new drawings on the same day the enquiry was received. “Our supply chain expertise also meant we were able to source and order the required materials on the same day, allowing them to be delivered and work to begin as quickly as possible in the New Year.

“With the facility producing somewhere in the region of 25,000 barrels of oil a day, every lost day of operation is expensive so the ability to provide a quick turnaround was an important consideration when sourcing the parts.” While the firetubes themselves will take 12 to 13 weeks to deliver, excluding works, this represents a five-week improvement on previous early delivery commitments.

Similarly, Maloney Metalcraft was able to mobilise its excellent supply chain connections to provide a seven-day turnaround for the new obround gaskets, rather than 28 days quoted elsewhere. Austen continued: “The team is now working hard to incorporate design improvements such as temperature sensors and water-jet spray systems into the firetube designs, which should help optimise their performance while maintaining the low-tech simplicity of the site.” A team of senior process and mechanical engineers from Maloney Metalcraft’s Centre of Excellence will also travel out to Gabon at the end of the month to provide technical support to the current field operations team and help improve performance of the plant.