Specialist Services

Specialist Services Group encouraging vendors to reduce product packaging volumes

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Environmental protection is a fundamental business endeavour at Specialist Services Group. We make every effort to nurture the environment, preserve natural resources and minimise the impact of our products, activities and services on the environment. We constantly communicate about the importance of environmental protection to our people, business partners and other stakeholders.

Our environment management initiatives are based on systematic environmental impact assessments, which form the basis of our Environmental Management System certified to ISO 14001:2015 standard. We use resources and energy in a responsible manner and reuse or recycle wherever possible. We are committed to manage waste effectively, prevent pollution, use environmentally friendly material and apply our technical abilities for the reduction of our environmental footprint, particularly in the design and engineering of our products.

Following the recent upgrade of our Environmental Management System to the 2015 standard, we are committed to further reducing our company’s impact on the environment by asking all our vendors for their support in reducing, reusing and recycling their products packaging and other materials.

For this purpose, we are currently sending a letter to all our vendors to motivate and encourage them to support this initiative, aimed to increase our efforts in protecting the environment and preserve natural resources.

But this is just a small part of all we can do to protect our environment. We look forward to our vendors’ support in this initiative, and encourage each and every one of you to also think about all the opportunities you have at work and at home to reduce waste, preserve natural resources and protect the environment.

Don’t wait for others to take the first step. Take action now!

Going digital: Making your work easier with Digital MDBs

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Within our environment protection activities, we have implemented various policies and procedures to reduce paper waste, while optimising our internal processes. As part of these initiatives, we have recently introduced an improved format of our products’ Manufacturing Data Books: the Digital MDB.

With the aim of providing higher quality, accurate and easy-to-use MDBs for our Clients, we created the Digital MDB concept, which also supports the timely delivery of our products’ MDBs.

What do we mean by Digital MDB?

The Digital MDB is simply your MDB in a digital format. Instead of delivering you large files of paper documents, our Digital MDB is delivered to you on a USB flash drive or tablet, on which we have uploaded all the documents of the MDB. With this new format, you can take the MDB wherever required, in office or on site, and you can easily find the document you are searching for.

What are the benefits for our Clients?

The key benefits of the Digital MDB for our Clients can be summarised in six short points:

  • Easy Access: Digital documents are easily accessible from any computer and tablet. They can be sent by email, shared on local network drives, uploaded and downloaded through various online file sharing options, accessible by any of your staff members worldwide.
  • Searchable Content: With digital documents, you can easily search for specific words or phrases in order to find the document you need.
  • Faster Delivery: Digital MDBs are much faster to prepare and can be therefore delivered to you faster than traditional hard copy MDBs.
  • Less Space Required: Digital MDBs on tablet or USB flash drive require minimum space for storage, especially compared to large EPC projects that may require a whole cabinet to store dozens of files for only one MDB.
  • Time Savings: Easy access, searchable content and faster delivery represent significant time savings for your staff in accessing the document they need when they need it from any of your international facilities.
  • Cost Savings: We provide Digital MDBs to our Clients free of charge. Based on minimum space of storage required, you also do not have any costs related to their storage. As a further incentive to go digital and to protect the environment, any request of hard copy MDBs will be charged additionally.

Go Green

The Digital MDB concept has been prepared in line with our Environmental Policy with the aim of reducing paper use and waste. Many of our Clients are already using only Digital MDBs, taking advantage of the many benefits.

Help us protect the environment – choose our Digital MDB.

Indirect Water Bath Heater with Burner Management System

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Specialist Services designed and delivered their first skid mounted process heater with SIL 2 rated Burner Management System for Zone II Hazardous Area installation

To provide our clients with solutions that increase the safety and efficiency of their operations, we have engineered and developed an innovative solution for Indirect Water Bath Heaters.

Project: Indirect Water Bath Heater
Location: Kuwait
Project Completion: January 2017

Project requirements

Within one of our latest projects for the provision of a process heater, our client required a gas fired indirect water bath heater along with a SIL 2 rated Burner Management System for Zone II, II A, T3 Hazardous Area installation.

The Burner Management System (BMS) is a safety solution, which is used to start up, monitor and shut down process burners in industrial applications. The complete heater along with the BMS was required to be mounted on a modular skid for ease of transportation. Usually, control systems are placed in air-conditioned rooms in a safe area, but in this case, the site ambient condition was harsh and humid, which is not suitable for control system components.

Solution

Specialist Services designed, engineered and manufactured the indirect water bath heater together with the BMS, in line with all client requirements. The heater is fired by a classified explosion-proof industrial burner. Fuel to the burner is fed through a gas train certified for Zone II installation. The complete combustion, process monitoring and control is achieved through the skid mounted SIL 2 rated BMS.

To mitigate the harsh and humid site environment, the BMS was installed within a SS316 control panel with Z-type Purging and the internal components with conformal coating.

Conclusion

This was an innovative engineering project for Specialist Services, where the Hazardous Area Process Heater was provided with a skid mounted Burner Management System.

This new solution offers various benefits for our clients, including:

  • Increased safety and reliability: The BMS minimises the risk of venting natural gas, which could lead to unstable and dangerous situations. With the touch of a button the system can be started or stopped. The BMS also has an automatic shutdown in case of any fault detection, thus minimising risks and losses.
  • Improved efficiency: The BMS provides an increase in process heater efficiency as well as a decrease of unplanned shutdowns.
  • Ease of monitoring and control: Complete process monitoring and control can be done through the HMI screen, while all process details can be shared with the DCS (client control system).
  • Environmental benefits: Aside from the obvious environmental threat from a natural gas explosion, with the use of the BMS, the burner’s increased efficiency reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

With one of the Specialist Services core values being to pursue quality and safety in all aspects of our work, this innovative solution represents a further confirmation of our exceptional engineering and manufacturing capabilities.

Bespoke Permit Office and Tea Shack

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Specialist Services Group designed and delivered a bespoke rental solution for a Permit Office and a Tea Shack to be used on an accommodation vessel in the North Sea

In July 2014, Specialist Services was awarded a rental contract to deliver a Permit Office and a Tea Shack to support their client’s operation on an accommodation vessel in the North Sea for a period of 6 months.

Project: Permit Office and Tea Shack
Location: Accommodation vessel in the North Sea
Project Delivery: August 2014
Rental Period: 180 days

Project requirements

Specialist Services received a rental order from a client through Labtech Services Limited, a Specialist Services Company based in Aberdeen. The requirement included four 20ft office units to be converted into two bespoke units: a permit office and a tea shack.

Solution

The project was extremely complex in terms of deliverables for this multi-room, joined and pressurised hazardous area certified module.

In line with the client’s requirements and specifications, Specialist Services designed and modified four of their standard 20ft A60 office modules, by combining two 20ft modules as double-wide modular units, constructed to provide the permit office and tea shack. The modifications on the four modules were executed whilst maintaining all of the modules existing ATEX, DNV, A60 and CSC certification.

Conclusion

This was the first order Specialist Services received from the client and they had committed to an extremely short lead time of only 2 weeks. Due to the close coordination between Labtech and Specialist Services projects, engineering and production across all disciplines, the project was seamless in the execution phase and everything was successfully completed on time.

20 Man Accommodation Extension for SBM

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Specialist Services has successfully completed the 20 man accommodation extension project awarded by SBM

On 2nd May 2013, SBM awarded Specialist Services the contract for EPC works for the 20 Man Accommodation module to be installed on a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) for deep-water exploration and production offshore Brazil.

Project: 20 Man Accommodation Module for BC-10 ESP Rig-less Intervention System (RIS) Project
Client: SBM Malaysia
End User: Shell Global
Location: Victoria, Brazil
Project Completion: 19th September 2014

Project requirements

SBM had been awarded a project for the implementation of a vertical intervention approach utilizing a purpose built intervention facility mounted on to the BC-10 FPSO production facility. The function of the Rig-less Intervention System (RIS) is to facilitate replacement of worn or failed caisson based artificial lift systems deployed in the BC-10 field.

In order to facilitate the above, an additional modular accommodation for 20 persons was required and SBM awarded the project to Specialist Services. The scope of work included engineering, construction, outfitting, installation of equipment, testing and pre-commissioning of the 20 man modular accommodation. The project was required to be installed on the FPSO meeting the necessary interfaces with the existing accommodation block as well as the vessel itself.

Solution

The 20 man accommodation extension was engineered as five separately constructed but formable A60 rated modular accommodation units, each comprising two 2 man cabins with individual toilet / shower facility, split A/C unit, lockers, life jackets, desk, chair and a sofa. The project also included the supply of a sewage treatment plant module (STP), a potable water skid, a 1 meter high master skid as a foundation for the accommodation and STP modules, a walkway enclosure to protect the entrance walkways against blast and vertical and horizontal bumpers to facilitate installation offshore.

In line with SBM’s requirements, the modular accommodation has been designed and manufactured taking into account the essential interfaces between the unit and the existing accommodation block as well as between the unit and the vessel. Considered interfaces included fresh water, sewage, ventilation, electrical power and control systems, personnel access, fire detection and safety.

The accommodation unit is A60 certified with the design review and product certification approved by ABS. The modular accommodation with all installed equipment is compliant with:

  • Hazardous Area Classification – Class I Zone 2, Gas Group IIA
  • Brazilian regulatory compliance (NR13, NR 30 and NR 10)
  • ABS class rules Guide for Crew Habitability on Offshore Installations
  • Bahamas regulations on crew accommodation
  • IMO resolution A.468 (XII), SOLAS Chapter III Regulation 9

Conclusion

The project required complex engineering, coordination and construction due to the specific requirements related with existing interfaces and characteristics of the FPSO production facility. A number of specification and design changes were requested by the end user, which required additional works for vertical and horizontal bumpers, Telecom / PA system installation, walkway enclosure and other elements that were added to the contract during the project execution.

The pre-commissioning of the installed systems lasted around 50 days under close vigilance and inspection by the end user deployed in Specialist Services yard in Abu Dhabi. After successful site acceptance test of the accommodation module by SBM and Shell, the module was weighed and loaded out from the waterfront facility in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi on 19th September 2014.

The modules are planned to be installed and integrated on the Shell Global BC-10 FPSO Espirito Santo, Brazil offshore by March 2015.

The accommodation modules will cater to meet the additional capacity of persons that will be on board during the intervention function of the RIS on the BC-10 field.