Oxifree Corrosion Under Pipe Supports (CUPS) Trials

Project Summary

Oxifree have developed an alternative solution to the established technique of shutting down plant piping systems in order to lift the pipe to allow access for blasting and painting activities to remove the corrosion product. The TM198 system is applied with minimal surface preparation and eliminates the need to shut down the line and requires minimal maintenance over a ten-year period. The project will consist of a two field trials covering the following main activities:
• Carry out a pre inspection of 141 pipe supports on two onshore sites
• Apply TM198 to all 141 pipe supports;
• Return to the sites after one year of normal operation, remove coating and reinspect areas to assess any degradation;
• Produce a final report on the performance of the repairs.

OUTCOMES

At a high level, it is possible to summarise the value to industry as a 48% reduction in year on year expenditure due to the reduction of personnel and rope access/ lifting requirement of inspecting and maintaining the 47,690‬ pipe supports within the industry.

By eliminating the need to shut down the pipework system, then subsequently lift, blast and coat the affective area it is estimated that the value impact to an asset will be in the region of £324k per annum with an overall cost saving to the UKCS of circa £81M (based on a 20% adoption rate across the 251 operational assets).