Geo Therm Ltd company article, using non-invasive testing equipment to condition monitor electrical systems

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2. 6
CONTENTS
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
Identify Your Failure Points, Before It’s
Too Late
OGI sits down with Tony Dale, Managing Director of Geo Therm
Ltd in the United Kingdom. Geo Therm Ltd provides SME’s with
thermographic inspections which help companies with their
maintenance and warranty surveys.
MIDSTREAM & PIPELINES
Fulfilling the Mission to Eliminate Man Entry
Tank Cleaning
Fintan Duffy, Managing Director of Re-Gen Robotics discusses
why his robots are successfully revolutionising the oil tank cleaning
industry and why they are outclassing humans in this task.
Drilling Holes in Pipe. Sounds Simple, but is it?
Just Drill a Few Holes and Forget About It? Well, Maybe Not.
PROCESSING
Why Gas Quality Matters
OGI sits down with Dr. Philippe Prêtre, CTO of Mems AG, to learn
more about the work they do with gas measurement technology.
Efficient Temperature Control
HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT
Carbon Capture Explained
OGI sits down with Gas Liquids Engineering (GLE) to find out more
about their work in the area of CO2 processing and sequestration, or
CCS (Carbon Capture and Sequestration).
OE21 Offers Unique Opportunity for the
Energy Transition
EVENTS CALENDAR
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54
38
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44
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3. 34
OGI sits down with Tony Dale, Managing Director of Geo Therm Ltd in the United Kingdom. Geo Therm
Ltd provides SME’s with thermographic inspections which help companies with their maintenance
and warranty surveys. One of the major benefits of working with Mr Dale and his team is they help
companies limit their unplanned outages. How does that work? Mr Dale will get into that in detail in
the interview, but essentially, using thermal infrared inspection, Geo Therm Ltd can help identify and
trouble-shoot potential failure points in your company’s assets. We get into this and much more below.
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
Identify Your Failure Points, Before It’s
Too Late
will complete a detailed thermographic survey
within four to five days assisted by the RPE,
while two inspectors undertaking an Ex-
inspection can take up to seven days to two
weeks depending on the asset size, equipment
isolation and availability. Whenever critical
issues are found these are red flagged and
immediately relayed to management and
rechecked after corrective actioning. During
any typical twelve-hour daily work schedule,
at least three quarters of the day is allocated
to the physical inspection while the remaining
time is taken up report writing to permit
interim report generation, and its handover at
time of vessel departure. Thereafter, all formal
reports are completed within two weeks and
sent to the rig manager.
OGI: Could you explain to our readers what a
“Thermal Imaging Inspection” is?
Dale: A thermal infrared inspection or
Thermographic Survey is a means to obtain
an accurate non-contact temperature image
to address the thermal performance and or
thermal properties of individual components
to building exteriors. This non-contact,
non-invasive inspection method does not
influence the system or process, nor does
it require external illumination, it is a safe
and best practice method encouraged by
all classification and maintenance guidance
notifications to locate potential system
OGI: Could you start by explaining Geo Therm
Ltd’s credentials and experience in terms of your
products and services for the oil and gas sector?
Could you tell our readers the breadth of your
experience, how long the company has been
active, and its reach?
Dale: Geo Therm Ltd is an independent, third
party SME inspection and condition monitoring
services company that has global reach. For the
past 20 years Geo Therm Ltd has continued
to grow aligned to customer needs and has
conducted thermographic inspections in forty
countries covering annualised offshore rig
maintenance and warranty survey requests. In
providing reliable and cost-effective services
on board offshore installations, FPSO’s, drilling
rigs and ships throughout Europe, West Africa,
Middle East, and Australasia. The company MD
Tony Dale has over 30 years’ experience in the
offshore energy sector. The company is based
in the Easterly port town of Lowestoft, in the
United Kingdom, with surveyors strategically
placed for rapid mobilised internationally via
Norwich and Schiphol airports to meet global
operational demands. Where Geo Therm Ltd
offer services tailored to maintain customer
operational uptime and regulatory compliancy.
Acknowledging Geo Therm Ltd brand is
synonymous with responsiveness, affordability,
and quality.
OGI: Could you talk a bit about the work that
you do in the oil and gas industry?
Dale: Our customers call upon Geo Therm
Ltd to carry out offshore oil and gas equipment
inspections, which are typically employed on
jack-ups, semi-submersibles, and drill-ships.
By far the most utilised services Geo Therm
Ltd perform are annual Thermographic and
Ex-inspections to comply with the asset
PM regimes, guided by regulatory and class
specifications. These services further help
to trouble-shoot potential failure points
and support system longevity, so limiting
unplanned outages. Upon rig arrival and
completion of a safety induction, our surveyor
Left: Geo Therm Ltd’s
thermographic inspections in
action, drilling derricks and
engine exhaust cowling issue.
Below: Company logo.
Over page: Donning a full
arc flash suit to perform
a drilling transformer
inspection.

4. 35
OGI: Finally, could you enlighten our readers
of a case study where you helped a client with
your solutions?
Dale: For optimum thermographic survey
results a direct line of sight is required between
the thermal camera lens and the item of
interest. This has inherent safety implications
during electrical inspection as equipment
must be energised at 40% load when thermal
tests are performed. To safeguard the surveyor
from electrocution and arc-flash potential
a residual survey can be performed, albeit
this involves temporarily shutting down
and opening MCC’s to immediately scan
the de-energised equipment. These options
have clear operational impacts. A more
favourable method and one that Geo Therm
Ltd has adopted with its customers consist
of the installation of infrared inspection
windows during planned outages to negate
the need of shutting vital systems down when
performing a thermal survey. Should the asset
manager choose this option and procure the
inspection windows from Geo Therm Ltd
then the benefits are tangible. Once installed,
it is possible to regularly perform safe routine
visual and thermographic inspections into
vital equipment without service interruption.
From a client and service supplier perspective
this is a win-win scenario, with asset safety
being vastly improved, and the ROI achieved
after the first few inspections, especially when
service discounts are applied.
OGI: Thank you for your time. •
If you would like to know more about how
Geo Therm Ltd can help your company and its
operations, please contact them at:
Geo Therm Ltd,
T: +44 (0)1502 723241
E: tonydale@geothermltd.co.uk
W: https://www.geothermltd.co.uk
deficiencies that if left unchecked can lead to
downtime or fire. When a handheld or fixed
monitoring thermal camera is used correctly, a
wide range of system deficiencies or processes
activities deviating from the norm can be
achieved, for instance in electro-mechanical,
cooling,andcladdingsystems. Athermalcamera
works by focusing infrared energy emitted from
the surface of a warm object on to a micro-
bolometer array while concurrently processes
operator defined parameters, assigning a false
colour and temperature value to each image
pixel to create an accurate thermographic heat
image for a certified surveyor to analyze and
interpret.
OGI: What are various inspections that you
carry out for the industry?
Dale: There are seven main offshore energy
services Geo Therm Ltd currently provide, these
include:
1. ABS and LR approved Thermographic
Inspections, used to identify early failure in
electrical equipment and locate missing or
degraded insulation and other hotspots in
rig engine rooms.
2. Supply and retrofit infrared inspection
windows to support asset safety initiatives
and safer electrical thermography PM’s.
3. Acoustic Ultrasound Services to listen, and
identify failing components emitting high
frequency ultrasounds above the human
hearing range indicative of electrical
arcing, partial discharge, and transient
earth voltages in main switchboards.
4. Acoustic Ultrasound Service for Vessel
cargo hatch and door testing to ensure
water/weathertight/gas enclosure integrity
and seaworthiness.
5. Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) visual
and electronic testing of in-service
handheld power tools, cables, and
appliances to ensure items are safe and fit
for purpose.
6. Ex-inspections of electrical fittings located
in hazardous zoned areas.
7. Circuit breaker injection testing to confirm
5 yearly operational performance.
OGI: How important is it to work with a partner
that has multiple accreditations with various
international trade bodies and associations, and
why?
Dale: Geo Therm ltd.’s accreditations address
industry requirements as an inspection
company. Assuring stakeholders of service
conformity by having the technical capacity
to implement and perform inspections in a
professional and impartial manner.
Accreditation increases trust in the conformity
assessmentandreinforcesthemutualrecognition
of products, services, systems, and bodies across
the offshore energy industry. Geo Therm Ltd.’s
hold accreditation with the American Bureau
of Shipping and Lloyds Register - both world
leading certification bodies, that recognize Geo
Therm Ltd’s specialist service supplier status,
through management systems certification,
verification, assessment, and training.
Likewise, Geo Therm Ltd has the ISO 9001:
2015 Quality Management System
accreditation. The purpose of the standard
shows that Geo Therm Ltd meet statutory
and regulatory requirements by achieving
excellence in customer service, products and
delivery, and a means to continually improve
upon our business performance. Geo Therm
Ltd is also FPAL verified, which identifies
and qualifies suppliers that help create
an effective supply chain network within
the offshore energy sector buyer-supplier
community. Furthermore, Geo Therm Ltd
is Safe Contractor accredited, a key measure
in validating the company’s operational
health and safety, equal opportunities, and
diversity and environmental management
best practices.
Accreditation to the above shows Geo
Therm Ltd.’s business activities are credible
and compliant whenever and wherever its
international services are contracted, with
services performed by certified personal
compiling detailed reports to facilitate
compliance needs.
OGI: What are some of advantages for asset
managers in working with Geo Therm Ltd?
Dale: Regardless of a survey being a one-off
spot check or an annualized repeat service,
every asset survey (and report) are impartial,
and undertaken with care, consideration,
and professional due diligence. Red-flagged
observations are immediately conveyed to
the rig maintenance supervisor to implement
corrective actions to assure rig uptime.
Furthermore, surveys are performed by
experienced and certified surveyors who have
safety at the forefront of any inspection task,
and who in turn follow clear and concise
procedures and specific work instructions.
Geo Therm Ltd survey teams are historically
long service employees which extensive
offshore and maritime working experience.
This fosters a sense of mutual respect and
camaraderie, facilitating open and engaging
dialogue and effective work planning when
offshore, to deliver each survey request within
time and agreed budget.