In this issue: - the Institute of Corrosion

INSTITUTENEWSQ. Corrosion control and asset integritymanagement are certainly discreteconcepts but are very much related. Howwould you explain both concepts?A. For offshore assets, corrosion is not the onlythreat, but it is a significant and major threatto asset integrity. Asset integrity managementfrom my point of view is the intelligentdeployment of initially front-end risk-basedinspection and monitoring coupled withwell thought out application of the variouscorrosion control techniques.Q. What do you consider the maincomponents of a good asset integritymanagement system? What are the keybenefits of implementing an asset integritymanagement system?A. Starting with the second question, the keybenefits are to ensure Health, Safety andEnvironment (HSE) compliance and to keepthe asset stakeholders happy by operating aprofitable venture. Downtime and catastrophicfailure are certainly unacceptable in today’sbusiness, so integrity risks to the asset mustbe well-managed. The most important aspectof a successful asset integrity managementprogramme starts with an intelligent risk-basedinspection programme. Unfortunately, manyof these programmes are not well thought outand are very often wasteful and not focusedon the key corrosion threats. Another key pointis to get senior management to support theprogramme. If senior management supportsan asset integrity management system, it ismore likely to succeed. Thirdly, it is vital thatthe practitioners are competent. If you haveunqualified personnel involved in any aspectof the programme, it will be a weak link andrisk will be elevated. So in summary, seniormanagement support, good programmes andgood people are the main factors to considerwhen developing asset integrity managementsystems.Q. Experts have always emphasised theimportance of reviewing asset integritymanagement systems regularly to ensurethey remain fit for their purpose. Why doyou think this is important?A. It is absolutely critical to do this for somereasons that I will pick on although there areprobably more. The first is the dynamic natureof corrosion risk as the asset ages. There willbe changes in corrosion models, reservoircorrosivity, constituents and other parameters,so the model and risk for corrosion damageare continually varying. Therefore, as the assetages, there is a changing criticality that mustbe continually reviewed. Another reason tocontinually review the system is to ensureyou get the loop effect of feeding resultsfrom integrity activities into the decisionmakingprocess to ensure intelligent changesare made to the system. Another obviousreason to review is the development of newtechnology. There is a regular introduction ofbetter ways of doing everything in integritymanagement, such as new inspection tools,new subsea equipment, new materials, newways of producing oil and gas — especially inthe subsea industry — and deep-water sectors.So what worked well in the beginning of thefield life may be inappropriate further into theasset’s service life. Finally, the review of thesystem is consistent with HSE requirementsthat are placed on oil and gas companies.Q. It is no secret that oil and gas assets areincreasingly required to function beyondtheir original design life. There is now aneed to perform life-extension studies toprove these assets can continue in service.What do you think is the primary role ofthe corrosion professional in this process?A I think the primary role of the corrosionprofessional is to provide advice to thestakeholders and asset owners on the threatthat specific types of corrosion damage poseto the integrity of their asset. Not all corrosionelevates risk, so corrosion professionals shouldbe able to advise on where risk-increasingcorrosion mechanisms exist and what theireffects are. Also, the corrosion engineer mustinteract effectively with other disciplines tounderstand how other relevant parameterscan affect corrosion. For example, a change infatigue life could reduce the tolerance of anasset to corrosion. In this case, the structuraland corrosion engineers must combine theirindividual expertise to ensure that adequateassessments are made to quantify and controlthe combined risk of fatigue and corrosion.Q. What are the main challenges facingthe UK upstream oil and gas sector asmost assets approach the end of theirservice life?A. I think there are two major challengesthat are specifically brought about by aginginfrastructure. First is finding the monetarycapital to decommission the asset. Anotherchallenge to the industry is maintaining theasset’s integrity and fitness for purpose ona very tight budget. There are many morechallenges but I think these are the keychallenges the industry faces and will continueto face in the future.Q. The interview will not be completewithout a question relating to cathodicprotection because you have done a lotof work in developing cathodic protectionretrofit technologies. From your pointof view, do you think there is a goodunderstanding of cathodic protection in theindustry? What are the common mistakesin its application?A. I am amazed at the amount of fundamentalignorance that pervades the industry when itcomes to cathodic protection. There are a lotof misconceptions, but I will mention the twomost common. The first is the insistence bysome engineers that cathodic protection is aline of sight wave phenomenon rather than anelectrochemical mechanism, thus the classicmisconception arises that if an anode cannot“see” the structure then cathodic protectioncannot be achieved. The second commonmistake is the lack of appreciation for thefundamental principle of cathodic protection,such as the crowding up of sacrificial anodearrays onto skids with a complete disregardof mutual interference effects, and this hasled to high profile deployment of anodes thathave been massively under-protective. I thinkthere is a need for more awareness of thefundamentals of cathodic protection in theindustry.Q. Do you have any advice for thecorrosion professionals joining the oil andgas industry (especially in the North Sea)?What prospects do you see for the futureof the industry?A. I would say to any young professional thatcorrosion is a good profession which is stillunder-populated, and I would recommend itas a career choice. Corrosion is not confinedto the oil and gas sector and indeed, in theoffshore sector, it is branching into otherareas such as renewables. I would, however,advise any entry level or graduate corrosionprofessional to get a job where they can getpractical field exposure to corrosion becausethis will positively develop a fundamentalknowledge of corrosion and enhance careeropportunities in the future. Corrosion in the oiland gas industry has a very good prospect, butone must be willing to travel regularly and/or possibly relocate because it is essentially amobile industry.The members of the Aberdeen branchcommittee would like to thank Jim Brittonfor his contribution to our interview series.We would also like to commend him for hiscontinued commitment to the developmentof corrosion technologies and his supportfor our branch activities. This interview hasbeen conducted by the Institute of Corrosion(ICorr) Aberdeen branch committee. Moreinformation about branch activities can beobtained from the ICorr Aberdeen branchsecretary, Frances Blackburn, ICorrABZ@gmail.com. Alternatively, a calendar of local eventsof interest to corrosion professionals in theAberdeen area and the opportunity to signup for the branch’s mailing list is available athttps://sites.google.com/site/icorrabz/home.9