INTRODUCTION
PII, GE Oil & Gas facility in the UK holds a vast amount of historic pipeline inspection data which is required each time it performs a reinspection of a client’s pipeline. This data can be requested from any of its locations around the world. The inspection data is stored on old 3480 Tape Cartridges. It has limited time remaining to safeguard this data as the tape cartridges are physically deteriorating, the tape drives are unsupported after May 2007 and only a few experienced analysts remain in the company who can perform the translation re- processing tasks.
This project initially establishes PII policies for the global retention requirements of Inspection data both Historic and future, by gathering information from PII Analysis, Sales, Projects, Risk and Legal teams. This establishes how much, and which, Inspection Data PII needs to retain, and for how long.
The project focuses on mitigating the risks of loss of all current historic data by providing cost effective solutions for transferring to another media while establishing a database tracking system, which can be used by its Analysis teams globally.
In parallel PII needs a solution for handling immediate re-processing requests as well as a forward planning strategy for future reinspection work year on year. This involves close working with Project & Analysis Team Leaders and linkage with the PII Analysis Data Flow project.
Finally the project delivers documented procedures for Historic Data Retention and recommends future longer-term solutions for secure archiving and storage of all PII Inspection Data.
Chapter 1
GE OIL & GAS, PII PIPELINE SOLUTION
1.1 About GE’s Oil & Gas business
GE's Oil & Gas business is constantly pushing the technology frontiers, and thrive on solving difficult challenges. It provides advanced products and services for some of the most challenging applications in the oil and gas industry.
GE's Oil & Gas business, headquartered in Florence, Italy, is a leader in the development and delivery of advanced product and service offerings for the global oil and gas industry.
This operation is among the few able to provide both technology and business solutions to every sector of the oil and gas industry, from exploration and production to processing into refined products. As a consequence of the rapid expansion of its technology base, GE's Oil
& Gas business is capable of addressing the largest and most complex engineering and application challenges entirely from its own worldwide resources.
1.2 Major Locations
Here below the GE’s Oil & Gas main locations are listed:
• Cramlington, United Kingdom;
• Florence, Italy;
• Gardena, California – USA;
• Houston, Texas – USA;
• Le Creusot, France;
• Oshkosh, Wisconsin – USA.
1.3 Product & Services
GE provides a complete portfolio of value-added products, services and solutions for the oil and gas industry from wellhead to consumer.
1.3.1 GE's Oil & Gas Portfolio
Products:
GE is a leading manufacturer of capital equipment for the global Oil & Gas industry. Its products include both rotating and static equipment, so whether it's the world's largest LNG compression trains, re-injection of high sulphur gas, enhancing the safety and productivity of the world's oil and gas pipelines, or equipment for the production of oil and gas from deep sub-sea resources, GE is leading the charge.
1. Compressor
Its compression solutions range from small, rotary vane compression units to equipment for the highest power, pressure and flow.
2. Gas Turbines
GE's Oil & Gas business manufactures a complete line of gas turbines for all major Oil &
Gas Industry applications. They are installed in natural gas plants, gas compression stations, oil booster stations, petrochemical plants and power generation and cogeneration plants worldwide.
3. Steam Turbines
GE’s Oil & Gas business offers a complete range of industrial steam turbines to meet the most challenging requirements of the Oil & Gas and Power Generation industries. A customized solution, a perfect match with the driven compressor, and a modular design ensure optimum efficiency without compromising on reliability and availability.
4. Turboexpanders
Its radial expanders are available configured with centrifugal compressors, generators or oil brakes for natural gas applications, petrochemical plants or refineries. Its axial expanders are designed for applications such as energy recovery from refinery hot gas waste streams.
5. Centrifugal Pumps
Designs include single or multistage, horizontally or radially split and single or double case type.
6. Reactors & Steam Condensers
It manufactures heavy wall reactors for refineries, tubular reactors, special vessels for petrochemical production plants and large high-pressure heat exchangers.
7. Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers
Plug box, cover plate and pipe and bend models are available in both forced and induced draft configurations.
8. Valves - Control & Safety
It designs, manufactures and installs control and safety valves designed for severe applications in refineries, petrochemical plants and power generation plants.
9. Reducing & Metering Systems
It supplies fully engineered, skid-mounted packages for fiscal metering and gas treatment systems.
Services
GE provides all solutions to enhance the client’s equipment efficiency and performance, Contractual Service Agreements that maintain client’s machines, plant and pipeline at the best level of reliability and availability, OEM spare parts, maintenance, repairs and a full portfolio of advanced services as well as 24/7 on line monitoring to optimize performance and life of the client’s. equipment. On request it can also offer Express Care services.
1. Contractual Services
Contractual Service Agreement (CSA) solutions are built on its extensive design and field experience in all Oil & Gas applications, from platform applications, through pipelines and LNG plants, to processing plants. GE currently has CSAs in place at more than 500 sites around the world.
2. iCenter and Smart Services
It is able to provide you with innovative, high value services, based on advanced diagnostic systems, monitoring tools and advanced technology solutions to enhance the reliability, availability and safety of the client’s equipment.
3. Multivendor Services
To offer clients the benefits of a single point of contact for servicing a complete fleet of rotating equipment, it has developed service capabilities for other OEM products. Advanced reverse engineering techniques and GE's extensive experience ensures a quality level which is the same or better than that of the original equipment manufacturers.
4. Pipeline Inspection & Integrity Services
GE’s pipeline inspection and integrity services bring together the specialized skills, advanced technologies and field experience essential for a confident assessment of the present and future condition of a pipeline.
5. Training
GE offers technical training in plant and equipment operation and maintenance. Multi- customer training, customized training and computer-based training are available.
6. Equipment Upgrade Solutions
GE provides customized engineered solutions to increase the output, performance and life of your plant. Its solutions cover a broad range of services, from machine upgrades (Gas &
Steam Turbines, Centrifugal & Reciprocating Compressors, etc.) to de-bottlenecking projects and environmental services.
7. Parts, Repairs and Field Services
GE leverages its expertise and experience to, care for customers’ assets over the life of their plant, whatever the need: OEM spare parts, maintenance and repair services, technical support in the field, troubleshooting, remote diagnostics, etc. It also offers express care for faster on-site response: 24 hrs. on-site, 5 hrs. remote diagnosis, or engine exchange.
8. Localization Initiatives
In order to be closer to customers GE Oil & Gas has a large number of repair facilities in strategic locations throughout the world. Its service shops are equipped with advanced technologies for repairs and the latest tools, and have skilled technical advisors to provide first class technical support and to reduce project cycle time.
9. Customer Service Center
24 hours x 7 days its multilanguage operators are available to respond to customer requests.
In case of emergency, or technical request, after the call all next steps will be tracked on a web-based tool.
10. Florence Learning Center
GE provides a full scope of conference center services including facilities, multimedia equipment, catering, etc. for meetings, training, and other events.
1.4 GE Brands – “A Wealth of Experience ... From Wellhead to Consumer”
Collectively, these product lines and service offerings provide integrated solutions including engineering, manufacturing, packaging, installation and startup, and full services for the oil and gas industry.
Nuovo Pignone
GE Oil & Gas offers a large portfolio of highly reliable Nuovo Pignone machinery and equipment for all segments of the oil & gas industry. With a global installed base of more than 20,000 units from production through transportation and processing into finished products, Nuovo Pignone is one of the industry's major suppliers of turbomachinery, compressors, pumps, static equipment and metering systems.
Services
All of its products are backed by value added services including parts, repairs, upgrades, life extensions, contractual service agreements, intelligent monitoring and diagnostics and plant- wide extended scope service agreements to keep plants operating at peak performance.
Test capabilities
Its extensive test facilities range from laboratory test stands for the verification of new computational codes and advanced component designs, to very large, fully instrumented facilities for full load string tests of large turbocompressors replicating site conditions. A digital "Virtual Witness Program" is available to allow customers to witness tests from the convenience of their own facilities.
Applications
Its world-class application leadership experience includes equipment, design integration services, and full turnkey systems for:
• Re-injection for enhanced oil recovery;
• Gas gathering;
• Pipeline transportation;
• LNG plant compression systems;
• Refinery conversion units and process islands;
• Processing plants (fertilizers, petrochemicals, plastics);
• Industrial & municipal power generation;
• GTL;
• Quality System.
Nuovo Pignone is committed to providing customers with the highest quality offerings, unparalleled customer service, and responsiveness. This commitment is driven through a Quality Management System that integrates the GE Six Sigma methodology with ISO 9001 quality standards.
A-C Compressor
It offers A-C Compressor compressors and services including complete overhauls, re-rate and repair services on gas and steam turbines, compressors and hot gas expanders.
Conmec
It offers Conmec services for the total care of turbomachinery — regardless of OEM — offering superior solutions including upgrades, rerates, repairs, engineering support, parts and turnaround management.
Gemini
It offers Gemini high speed reciprocating compressors.
Odessa
The Odessa Centre of Excellence offers overhaul services for gas turbine engines and packages as well as field service, spare parts, training and package refurbishment of power generation, mechanical drive and gas compressor packages.
Rotoflow
It offers Rotoflow hydrocarbon turboexpanders.
Thermodyn
It offers Thermodyn centrifugal compressors and impulse steam turbines.
PII Pipeline Solutions
The PII Pipeline Solutions Centre of Excellence provides solutions for all aspects of pipeline integrity, from maintenance & inspection prioritization through the most comprehensive range of inspection tools to pipeline repair and risk-based maintenance.
1.5 Pipeline Services & Solutions Locations
GE has a substantial global presence, and it is committed to providing the highest possible levels of responsive, local service.
1.5.1 Centres of Excellence
The Science of Pipeline Integrity
GE operates two dedicated research and development centres for pipeline integrity study, each working to raise the level of performance of existing technologies and to find solutions to the many operational challenges that the global pipeline industry faces. Both centres are staffed by personnel with doctoral degrees specializing in magnetics, ultrasonics, physics, metallurgy, software development, mathematics and many other disciplines.
Cramlington, U.K. is the centre for magnetic flux leakage technology. The first high resolution in-line inspection tool was designed at Cramlington. Current projects include transverse field inspection, extra high resolution performance for critical pipelines, satellite reconnaissance, new sensor technologies, neural networks and services for inspection of water utility pipelines.
Karlsruhe, in southern Germany, is the centre for ultrasound technology. The location was chosen for its proximity to the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, where much innovative work has been carried out in the field of ultrasound testing for the nuclear industry. Current projects include mapping techniques using GPS/GIS, refinements to EMATS technology, bend radius measurement, speed control systems and advanced leak detection systems.
All PII Pipeline Solutions locations:
PII has many other centres scattered all around the globe. Some centres are located in:
Western Europe and Africa, Central Europe, North America, South America, Asia Pacific.
