Testing company Bureau Veritas has approved in principle the repair of offshore structures using Coldshield bonded composite product, developed by Paris, France-based start-up Cold Pad. Coldshield is a composite structural reinforcement specifically developed for the harsh environments of offshore units.
‘Coldshield offers a long awaited solution for the repair of corroded offshore structure without the need for welding or downtime,’ said Matthieu de Tugny, Senior vice-president and head of offshore, Bureau Veritas. ‘We have combined our expertise in marine composites and bonding with our experience of the hydrodynamic loadings and constraints of offshore units to assess Coldshield. We believe that Coldshield is the first non-welded structural repair method available for an FPSO hull.’
Marine offshore structures such as FPSOs are subject to a harsh environment combining high loads, fatigue and potential heavy corrosion. The classical method of repair by welding is not always possible, or needs long downtime. The idea of bonded structural composite repair has been under development for many years but bonding and composite repairs usually require a controlled environment, making them unsuitable for offshore structures.
Coldshield’s design is complex and is made of high standard composites, specifically chosen polymers, alloyed in a shield of Superduplex steel and fluorosilicon joints. Specific production techniques such as vacuum resin injection and structural bonding have been improved to make the product robust enough for onboard bonding in an offshore environment.
This story uses material from Energy Global, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
