Toray Industries has developed a carbon fiber reinforced plastic-based repair technique for sea vessels used in hydrocarbon production.
The repair technology will be used on floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) and floating storage and offloading (FSO) systems built by MODEC, which supplies and repairs the vessels.
Toray reports that it adapted an existing patent for a vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VaRTM) repair technique designed for narrow work to the repair of FPSOs and FSOs. With MODEC it developed a repair technique that uses carbon fiber fabric with high strength and high elastic modulus which makes it easier to carry in materials and equipment compared to the conventional repair method using steel materials, and requires a smaller number of people and a shorter construction period. Since it does not involve fire work, the impact of repair work on oil and gas production could also be minimized, Toray says.
Toray says that it has obtained approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its process to be as a standard repair method for thickened parts requiring maintenance due to corrosion.
This story uses material from Toray, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
