Abstract
A significant development in Sarawak Malaysia E & P (SM-EP) jacket maintenance was the introduction of the "one coat" glassflake filled polyester (GFP) coating system in 1987. The major drive for the change from the conventional 3/4 cost systems is the huge savings that can be made during Maintenance. The “one coat” GFP system concept required less application times, enhanced the corrosion protection of jackets and a potential saving on barge time of about $4 million per jacket could be achieved over a period of 20 years. It is anticipated that a further reduction in maintenance and in-service inspection costs could be achieved due to the extended maintenance coating cycle.
After a successful pilot, the coating material specification was developed and incorporated in 1988. The coating system, once applied to the required specification, is expected to alleviate any future major maintenance. The touch-up coating programme based on the condition-based maintenance philosophy (currently time-based maintenance philosophy) will further extend the coating lifetime thus enabling the extended maintenance cycle to be more realistic. The first application as a new construction coating was in 1994/1995. To date, about 25 platforms had been coated using the GFP system. The coating system is applied mainly on the primary and secondary structures, conductor pipes, helidecks, decks, etc. As far as the coating system is concerned, the concept was considered a break through within Shell group, with SM-EP being the first operating company to actually apply the system on a large scale.
