Engineering staff of Sofis partners Ibemo and Kios are about to conduct a full inspection of all 634 interlocks, installed on the Chinarevskoye field in Kazachstan, one of the main operational facilities of Nostrum Oil & Gas. The inspection is a direct result of an interlock survey at Nostrum’s oil facility on the Chinarevskoye field, carried out by Sofis and Ibemo staff.
Nostrum’s Chinarevskoye field
The main operational facilities of Nostrum Oil & Gas are located in Chinarevskoye field. Amonst others, they include an Oil Processing Facility (OTF) capable of processing 400,000 tpa of crude oil, a 120-kilometer crude oil and stabilised condensate pipeline, oil gathering and transportation lines, a tank farm for the storage of crude oil, a Gas Treatment Facility (GTF) and numerous wells.
Malfunctions and safety breaches caused by defect interlocks
As a result of Nostrum’s strong focus on improving the management and mitigation of risks, Sofis was invited to perform an interlock survey on Nostrums’ plant facilities. During this survey, Sofis engineers discovered a variety of malfunctions and safety breaches on the interlock systems they came across, mainly caused by the way that the interlocks were operated, changing conditions in the field and due to lack of maintenance. This comprises damaged locks, locks that have not been re-installed on replaced valves, missing keys and missing or damaged tag plates. Based on their short visit to the plant, it was expected that roughly 30% of all interlocks should be replaced.
Interlocks survey detects potential safety breaches
Nostrum requested Sofis to train Nostrum’s staff how they should use and maintain valve interlocks, to prevent unwanted standstill time or even severe safety breaches. The training is to be preceeded by a full inspection of all interlocks, carried out by engineering staff of Sofis partner Kios LLP in Kazachstan. By conducting a full interlock inspection, Nostrum will gain a concise overview of the current state of all interlocks and ensure a 100% fail-safe and secure state.
Securing the integrity of your interlocks
Interlock surveys and full inspections are important to guarantee interlock integrity, allowing you to comply with safety regulations at all times. Inspecting locks on a regular basis will also lead to less unplanned standstill-time caused by ad hoc issues and increase process up-time. As a result of regular interlock inspections, you will have a detailed overview of interlocks at your plant. Since every site is different, Sofis provides tailor made multiyear programs, specially designed to fit the needs of your company, operating profile and environment.