Cable hazards

Recognised through two international standards, the IEE (American standards), and the IEC (European standard), cables pass through all areas of plant, refineries, rigs and facilities, carrying essential power supplies and control to equipment required to ensure operations of a facility at all times.

These cables are routed via risers, ducts, and in open areas, cable trays, cable channels, and conduits are used. In some cases depending on the intended use of the required installation, cables are openly fitted along support structures, and can each carry electrical currents of up to 1000 volts.

Although cable design varies for every installation, the requirements of the cables needed for use in the oil and gas industry however, reflect the conditions that they are often exposed to.

Cables today need to be resistant to oil, abrasion, high ambient temperatures and atmospheric dust (especially within the Middle East), UV rays from constant sunlight, moisture and the saline atmosphere when used offshore.

Hazardous areas

Now with more and more concern from companies for the environment and the added health and safety of personnel working in such harsh conditions, a number of problems within older cables especially, need to be taken in to consideration.

Safar KWx, an established supplier of cables and accessories for the oil and gas industry worldwide, has noted a significant increase in concerns for the health and safety of personnel and the environment.

“For years and years, the oil and gas industry has always been able to manufacture cables to withstand harsh conditions however, now we’re getting very conscious of explosions and fires,” says Mitch Harper, general manager of Safar KWx electrical services.

“The latest thing I’ve seen, particularly in the past 18 months, is the awareness of the impact on the environment and personal safety,” he added.

“Offshore cables are generally a rubber based sheath cable , oil and flame retardant, and able to withstand the saline atmosphere, UV, and sunlight,” says Harper.

“There is also a lot of mechanical abrasion when it comes to drilling, and now that time has gone on, there have been fears of fires spreading across the platforms through older cables. Cables fitted along with fixed platforms tend to be sheathed with PVC as it’s fire resistant,” he continues.

However, according to Harper the PVC previously used to sheath cables contained certain compounds that would be just as life threatening to staff, as the fire itself.

“For example, when a cable burns, it causes the spread of a localised fire that runs throughout the length of the cable. This also causes a dense black smoke which, as well as being highly toxic impairs visibility, thus hindering the evacuation process,” adds Harper.

As a result of these concerns manufacturing companies have developed cables that are not only flame retardant, but have zero halogens, oxygen index ratings and low smoke emissions.

Solutions

Duval Messien, an electrical protection and earthing system specialist company since 1835, believes that solutions to these problems can be more straightforward than initially thought.

“It is impossible to halt or move an existing refinery or plant, so it is therefore necessary to think up solutions that are not only going to work but are implementable in the simplest way possible,” says Sonjib Banerjee, technical director, Duval Messien.

“There are specific wire specifications, and this goes for every kind of installation, whether it be for a high-rise building or an oil refinery. Contractors are bound to follow these specifications, and we then go in and check if the contractors have done it correctly,” he adds.

“An improperly tied refinery for example, is like an unstable boat, with our work the boat is on a low tide and is stabilized,” says Banerjee.

All of these specialised requirements should and can be accommodated by the manufacturer at the front end of a project where manufacturing costs and long-delivery times can be built in to the project scale.

However, companies can be faced with additional difficulties stemming from the client base, as Harper explains. “Where you have international consultants, a local company and the contractor who’s going to do the installations from a third country causes problems. Japan’s electrical standards for example, tend to copy American standards so instead of feet and inches they’ll make it square millimeters.

Accessories

In order to aid in the protection of oil and gas personnel and the environment, there are a variety of accessories that are essential to the cabling industry, for a successful installation and in particular, the maintenance of a cable.

“Hazardous area cable terminations, explosion proof glands and junction boxes are a few accessories that are needed in the cabling sector, especially for oil and gas applications. All cables (and accessories) must be suitable for harsh climates, mechanically rugged, and internationally certified for use in industrial and hazardous areas,” says Harper.

“Cables are heavy, but the drum they’re on also has to be heavy enough to take the weight of that cable. At our end everything tends to be in a hurry, it is that critical. Any aspect of the oil and gas industry they do not shut down, production or drilling never stops,” he adds.

Due to this, for those working within the cable industry the price of delivering cables and accessories to there intended destination can sometimes cause the occasional hitch.

“Last week I had sent by courier 150 kilos of explosion proof glands from the UK to a project in Saudi, and that took only 24 hours. The courier charges probably equaled the cost of the materials, however an oversight and sudden change of plan needed this,” explains Harper.

“There are always short falls, not enough engineers, and those in need of a few extra corners of cable,” he says.

Commodities Crisis Although business is booming within the cabling industry, in line with the recent financial crisis, suppliers of cables and accessories are finding that a similar situation is occurring in the raw commodities market. Metals such as, nickel and copper for example, are not only running low due to growing demands, but the cost of getting grips on such materials is also on the increase.

“Galvanized Iron contains Zinc, and once a particular voltage is reached it will cause the metal to melt, therefore copper is the most efficient metal, with a higher melting point. Companies should note that price should not be of influence, especially where the safety of others is concerned,” says Banerjee.

“Whatever specification the cable is, or standard it’s to do, the biggest content is Copper, and Copper prices have just gone through the roof, dropped back and gone through the roof again. For companies you have the cost of the copper and the PVC – they can forecast ahead what their manufacturing costs are going to be, but not the copper,” says Harper.

“We went through a period where we were being offered a validity period of three days – UK  £100 000 worth.” This of course is another difficulty within the industry. Companies will not accept three days validity; most company standards are 60-90 days.

“Although the price is reasonably stable now – I’m getting 30-day validity again, it really was quite bad, going up by 20% last year, affecting the costs of the company as well as the end user,” he adds.

If the situation should become more extreme in an already volatile copper market, all cable manufacturers should ideally vote in favour of scaling back production instead of lowering quality standards.

Future

In any installation, cutting corners with cables could be fatal, throwing into jeopardy the economic success of even the biggest companies in the region.

Vast rewards are up for grabs by those companies that can meet the top end safety requirements of the oil and gas sector. With employee health concerns at the top of many agendas manufacturers such as Safar KWx and Duval Messien are striving to reinforce best safety practices within the cable sector for the energy industry worldwide.