PIGs in the pipeline at FEP
This is not your usual PIG – this is a Pipeline Inspection Gauge, a specialist robot that checks and cleans oil and gas pipelines from the inside to keep them running safely, using a process known as ‘pigging’. As part of the £140m plant investment programme now underway at our Fife Ethylene Plant, we are pigging the 7km of pipes that link the plant to our Braefoot Bay Marine Terminal on the Forth.
The PIGs are sent on their way by a launcher that uses water
pressure to push them along the pipeline. The launcher is believed to be the
first of its kind to be used in the UK.
Readings from the sensors identify with pinpoint accuracy
any part of the pipeline needing remedial work, enabling servicing work to be
carried out without having to dig up large sections of land. Carlo Lummi, FEP
Project Construction Lead, says, “This project has involved teams of talented
engineers from across the globe, including the UK, Netherlands, Italy, USA and
India. “It has involved many hours of design and fabrication of bespoke valves,
pipework and pressure vessels and the very latest in pipeline inspection
technology to identify servicing needs not visible to the naked eye.
“Pigging will help minimise disruption to local people and
avoid impact to the local environment, while ensuring our equipment is
inspected and maintained to the very highest standard in order to keep our
supply feed flowing uninterrupted to customers.”
See FEP investment
in safe hands from the April issue of Newsline.
Also in this issue
Remediation works are set to begin at Bowling
Preparation and construction works are due to start this month (May) at a significant former industrial site in Bowling near Glasgow after a year-long delay due to COVID-19. As part of the land sale agreement, ExxonMobil will remediate the site, which was previously home to an Esso oil terminal. The land is now part of the Glasgow City Region Deal project and will be transformed by the buyer into a major industrial and commercial development and bypass.
FAST – preserving the future
Although Fawley’s FAST project has been temporarily postponed, work continues at pace to ensure the project is well placed upon restart. Newsline has spoken to Yuri Cordy, project manager to discover what’s been happening to store and preserve the equipment already procured.
Fawley prepares for 70th anniversary celebrations
Preparations are underway to mark the 70th anniversary of the ‘new’ refinery at Fawley in September. Newsline spoke to Alison Jones, Fawley community manager, who is helping to co-ordinate the celebrations with Fawley’s Behaviours and Culture team.
“Everything at Fawley has 70th anniversary branding this year,” says Alison. “The 10 large information boards displayed in Fawley’s conference centre are being upgraded to mark the anniversary and digital signage is being used across the site. New photographs have been commissioned to hang throughout the administration building too.
EMBRACE – it’s time to talk
Conversations about race can sometimes feel uncomfortable – but that’s no reason not to speak out. Newsline recently spoke with Bhonae Tayali, EMIT digital support advisor, of the EMBRACE Network about its latest activities, which seek to show why we must actively listen, learn and talk about the experiences of our colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds, in order to live out the ExxonMobil value of being inclusive.
