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Professional support every step of the way
FRP is different from carbon steel not only as a material, but also its design, procurement, qualification, handling and installation requires specific knowledge and experience. Every step in the project cycle is important. From experience we know what aspects are critical and what support is required to make the project a success and enable you to finalize the project within budget and schedule.
Dynaflow Research Group offers full project support for fiberglass systems. We can assist with the following steps:
Pipe Quality Assurance
Pipe Factory Inspections
Installation Supervision
Due Dilligence Studies
Root-Cause Analysis of Failures
Risk Based Assessment
We are experienced in providing support during the lifecycle of your project:
Project specification preparation or review
Pre-design/FEED phase
Materials selection/Chemical compatibility checks
Pipe factory assessment (preparing/review of ITP’s
Detailed pipesystem design or reviews (link to design section)
Installation supervision
It is recommended to include specific FRP knowledge and experience in this early stage of the project (FEED phase). Early identification of risks and specific issues will pay-off throughout the project execution phase and will avoid delays and unforeseen costs that otherwise may arise only at a late stage in the project.
The design, qualification and installation of FRP material differs from conventional materials and is sometimes complex to understand. With the right support at the right time many problems at a later stage can be avoided.
Because of the large variety of glass reinforcement types, resin types and thermoplastic liners, materials selection needs to be tailored to your specific application and depends on the fluids to be stored (corrosion resistance) or transported, the operating conditions (temperature, pH level) and environmental conditions (UV radiation). DRG can help you to make the optimal materials selection for your application.
The number of FRP systems offered in the market is large. The availability of the systems and portfolios of the vendors differ in pipe dimensions they offer, the pressure ratings and chemical compatibility.
From the projects we have been involved with we have gathered an in-depth knowledge of the systems and portfolio’s the vendors have to offer. We can help to select the optimum system and vendor for your specific application.
Once a vendor is selected a more in-depth analysis is required to verify whether all components used for the project are qualified and meet the specified standards. DRG offers technical support during Inspection Test Plan (ITP) meetings with the vendor to assure a solid test plan is in place during manufacturing.
As part of the vendor assessment work procedures for jointing/adhesive bonding procedures, pipe handling, pipe storage, consumables storage, transportation and backfilling procedures for buried pipe are also verified. A check on qualification and certification of fitters is a standard part of this assessment.
Once the project is active, it is recommended a manufacturing quality audit of the production facility of the vendor is carried out. All these aspects are of equal importance to assure that the installation will meet the standards and deliver a good quality system.
Studies have shown that most failures of FRP systems are often the result of a poor design, poor qualification or poor workmanship during construction. Joints and especially adhesive bonded joints are prone to poor workmanship, poor QA/QC and lack of a proper field supervision. Adhesive jointing procedures therefore require special attention.
On-site inspections during the construction phase are crucial to verify whether the construction work activities meet the specified working procedures and whether design requirements are met like soil conditions, backfilling procedures, presence of sufficient supports for pipe, valves and pumps etc.
Our Field Engineers are highly experienced in installation supervision and can assist at any time finding the root cause of a problem. Using experience in the behavior of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) and proper installation guidelines as well as knowledge of the mechanics of the fiberglass material DRG has been successfully involved in inspection of many fiberglass installation projects around the world.
Unfortunately failures cannot always be avoided. Failures can occur during the construction phase, during the commissioning phase (hydrotesting) or during operation. Independent of the event, what you want is a quick solution to repair your pipe system.
With our presence in Europe (NL) the Middle-East (UAE) and North America, we can quickly respond to your request and provide on site support. Sometimes, finding the root cause of a failure requires a more in-depth analysis. In such cases we assist our field engineer with office support to carry out a Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCA).
We follow a structured approach and use tools to gather valuable information about the conditions at the onset of the event. Based on our experience and observations made in the field by our field engineer we often are able to quickly identify the root cause of the failure and define corrective actions for repair and give recommendations to avoid such failures in the future. Sometimes it is necessary to take samples from the field to check whether the material meets the specifications. This can involve mechanical testing, chemical analysis or measurement of the physical properties and most of these tests we can perform in our in-house test laboratory.
A review of the design can be part of the failure analysis. This may include stress analysis, surge analysis, transient analysis and a check on short- and long-term allowable stresses. We also check the input parameters which are originating from the qualification records and the mechanical properties measured on the specimens taken from the field samples if required.
Laan van Oversteen 20
6th floor
2289 CX Rijswijk
The Netherlands
© Dynaflow Research Group BV