UK-based asset integrity specialist EM&I is pleased to announce that the Hull Inspection Techniques and Strategy (HITS) Joint Industry Project (JIP) has successfully entered its fifth year and recently enjoyed its biggest attendance yet at the last month’s FPSO Forum in Cumbria, which was hosted by the company.
The meeting took place on Thursday 12 April and began with a presentation of and discussion around achievements in the previous year.
HITS 4 considered fundamentals required for eliminating man entry into confined spaces. This included methodologies and requirement for thickness gauging.
Further consideration was given to cleanliness of tanks and their coating condition.
Two demonstrations of technology were made during the meeting in the EM&I Technology Centre, allowing participants to examine close up the effectiveness of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the Saturation Low-Frequency Eddy Current (SLOFEC) thickness measuring technique.
The results of the 2017 work are now allowing the HITS journey to enter an exciting new phase in HITS 5 with a thorough investigation of both inspection techniques and remote delivery techniques.
A plan for the current year was approved at the meeting.
Current JIP members include BV, ABS, Lloyds, Shell, Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
However, JIP is regularly attracting new interest with membership continuing to build and three new approaches made for membership in recent weeks, including BP.
Please contact EM&I using the enquiries form for more information.