Lokring – Lessons in pipe connections from the British MOD

/in , , , /by

Submitted by Lokring Northern UK

Impact

Lokring provides a safer, faster and cheaper alternative to welding and is code qualified as a permanent method for connecting pipe within Oil and Gas industry.

Lokring is, however, used across a wide variety of industries. One of the most extreme applications being with the British Ministry of Defence. After under-going highly stringent testing including:

  • 1000G Shock Test (to simulate a depth charge or missile strike)
  • Vibration Test with 10 million cycles and 500,000 pressure pulsations

It was found that only Lokring or properly done butt welds were suitable to be used. As a new build project, there were no restrictions to welding. However, the speed of install offered by Lokring and the ability to stack trades saw over 7000 Lokring fittings used on each of the astute class submarines and over 12,500 on both the aircraft carriers (HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales).

How does this relate to the Oil and Gas industry?
Recently an Operator in the SNS replaced a diesel ring main on one of its offshore platforms. Initial plans, using pre-fabricated spools to be tied in using flanges, came in over budget. An alternative method was therefore required and, by adopting the techniques used by the MOD, it was proposed that Lokring was used to construct the entire system offshore (site-run).

Description of Best Practice

By changing the mind-set from ‘we always do it this way’ to looking at alternative methods already used in other industries, an operator in the SNS was able to make significant savings in both COST and TIME.

The operator took a product it was already using, Lokring, and adopted a technique used by the British MOD. By doing this they managed to massively reduce offshore construction time by over 1000 hours, freeing up bed space and allowing workers to move onto the next job. The cost of site-running Lokring came in 28.48% cheaper than the pre-fabrication method.

Site-running with Lokring is becoming more and more common in the Oil & Gas industry, helping operators to complete projects efficiently and within budget.

Contact:    Jake Rowley
jrowley@lokring.com