Page 8 - Danish Offshore Industry 2020

By Sune Falther
AWARD-

WINNING

INNOVATION

KEEPS OCEAN TEAM

GROUP BUSY

A unique and innovative solution for cleaning safety
valves has given Ocean Team Group an all-access pass
to the North Sea Oil Majors

Right now, a wide range of offshore industry operators Over time, the hydraulic oil in the lines often gets dirty
are looking to Ocean Team Group in Esbjerg for a new and pipes get blocked, making the valves inaccessible.
and innovative solution to the problem with blocked With no safety valves, the oil cannot be produced safely,
safety valves. and production is halted until a new pipe or control line
can be set up.
Last year, Ocean Team Group was awarded the prestig-
ious ICoTA”s innovation award for a unique concept of Ocean Team Group injects supercritical CO2 to clean the
applying supercritical CO2 to blocked pipes, in the safety pipe on-site. By injecting CO2 into the pipe and turning
valves, and effectively unblocking the pipes with bub- on the pressure, dirt is driven out of the pipe. And it
bles. The solution is very much in demand. works very well:
“We have made quite a splash with this one”, Ocean “We can clean the pipes and even dissolve plugs in the
Team Group founder and CEO Jens Peder Thomsen says: tube”, Jens Peder Thomsen says:

“The operators liked the initial concept. They very much “We call it the soda effect: It is reminiscent of shaking a
liked the proof of concept and they liked it even better soda and then opening it: the released pressure drives
after the award. Currently, we are involved in 18 projects everything out of the pipe, saving time and keeping
in the UK, the Netherlands and Norway, and we are busy production flowing,” he says.
trying to keep up,” he says.
HUGE POTENTIAL
Clogged and blocked safety valve lines are a problem It is a solution that gives the operators an extra chance.
outside the North Sea as well. Ocean Team Group al- Once the safety valve is blocked, operations have to stop.
ready has a team operating in Australia, as they have the
same issues. “We are the last chance before drilling a new well. We
can”t open them all, but we can open quite a few, and
“SODA” IN THE TUBE most operators are interested in giving us a shot before
Ocean Team Group has developed an innovative method abandoning the well,” Jens Peder Thomsen says.
for cleaning the narrow, kilometre-long hydraulic control
lines used to activate the safety valves in offshore pro- The list of clients is already long, and conservative esti-
duction. mates say Ocean Team Group”s solution has the poten-

6 / AWARD-WINNING INNOVATION KEEPS OCEAN TEAM GROUP BUSY