A global subsea connector manufacturer approached Hydratron to design, supply and install a new pressure testing system, to be installed in a new production and testing facility they were building. The customer required three testing cells, with total remote control and a full safety interlock system. The system needed to hydrostatically test at pressures up to 30,000PSI while also having the ability to produce high flow at a pressure of 1500PSI.

Flexibility of the cells was a key priority, they customer needed to:

• Use each cell separately;
• Combine two whilst keeping the third separate;
• Open all three areas into one large cell.

Each test cell needed its own PC based control monitoring and data logging system.  

Initial Action

After attending various meetings with the client and working through the initial concept design stage, Hydratron generated a technical specification detailing the logic for the functionality, safety and overall layout of the system.

Solution

The design included three remote PC based control units, located in a purpose-built control station. Each of these control units operate their own dedicated pumping and pressure control equipment, all of which are remotely located in one main central pressure generation skid. Pressure and flow are distributed from there into a pressure distribution box, one located in each cell.

The remote control consoles also interact with each other to achieve the logic of selecting test cells to pressurise into, along with offering the capability of opening up the individual test cells into each other for testing larger equipment. Flexibility was designed into the system so that equipment could be reconfigured and equipment operation diverted between cells to introduce redundancy and ensure testing would not get effected in the event of a failure.

The clients test items incorporate an internal clamping system which needs to be activated prior to any test pressure getting introduced, this is achieved within the main safety logic. This means that test pressure cannot be generated until the clamp pressure has reached the required level and in the event of clamp pressure loss during testing, all test pressure is dropped making the system safe.

Access into the test cells needed to be restricted and controlled, the system can detect if doors are open or closed, no test pressure or clamp pressure is generated if the relevant doors are open. With the correct doors closed, pressure can be generated and once the system gets to 5bar the doors lock. In the unlikely event of doors inadvertently getting opened during testing, all pressure drops and the system is left in a safe state 

All testing data is logged and the system produces a report in the form of both raw data and a custom designed client specific pfd report. Hydratron completed the installation works including the  distribution piping network and all electrical wiring and successfully commissioned the system.

Since commissioning Hydratron have been actively maintaining the system on an ongoing basis.