FEATURE CASES & ENCLOSURES Gavin Faulkner and Keith Wood, Intertec
Instrumentation, take a look at GRP enclosures and their relevance in challenging environments
extended life and lower cost of ownership; off-grid locations with a lack of reliable power; cost and difficulty of installation; and skill shortages.
GRP enclosures in challenging environments M
any trends in enclosure technology are being driven by the growing
demand for protecting instrumentation and control equipment in harsher field environments. These include upstream oil and gas equipment in today's remote desert, Arctic and deep offshore exploration and production locations. Such challenges have been key driving forces behind the recent rise in preference for outdoor enclosures made from GRP (glass reinforced polyester) compared with traditional bent-metal constructions.
This article looks at GRP
and its relevance to some of the most pronounced challenges: climate and environmental; the need for
LOCATION, LOCATION Many of the most significant projects of current times involve installing plants in extreme locations. Take the LNG plant currently being constructed in the Siberian Yamal peninsula for example, or the Prelude floating LNG vessel which will be located 200km offshore from Western Australia. Dealing with the intense cold of an
An Intertec passively cooled shelter for a difficult desert location
Arctic environment demands very high performance insulation. The basic GRP sheet material used in Intertec’s enclosures has high thermal resistance compared to metal. GRP sheets are also easily fabricated in composite ‘sandwich’ forms, enclosing high performance insulation. As such, insulation is added as an integral part of the structural material, giving uniform protection over the whole enclosure. By being bonded or injected into place, no interior-exterior fixings or components are needed, avoiding other thermal short cuts. This holistic approach to enclosure
design has particular benefits in avoiding the cold-spots (or hot-spots) that can lead to problems. It delivers extremely stable operating environments for instrumentation, which can be crucial in many applications - such as process
analysers. Naturally, this construction also greatly reduces the energy required to heat or cool electronics equipment.
LONG LIFECYCLES Another key demand today is for greater reliability and lifecycles. Again, this is being driven by the demands of challenging upstream projects where the risk and cost of equipment failures and downtime can be huge. Even 316 stainless steel can corrode quickly in some of these extreme environments. The outer GRP sheets of the composite construction material used in advanced GRP field enclosures provide the required environmental protection. GRP is an inherently inert material that is virtually immune to corrosion and atmospheric pollutants. It is also resistant to a wide range of petrochemical media. High levels of UV can induce some
surface brittling of GRP, leading to marginal damage over long periods of time. However, in practice, such degradation is prevented by a UV- resistant gel-coat applied to the panel surfaces. Intertec employs a specially developed gel-coat of unsaturated polyester resin that matches the properties of GRP, which is applied as a spray before the panel is fully cured. The polyester resins of the gel-coat and panel form a chemical bond. The coating provides a durable, but flexible, surface finish with resistance to
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