Managing risk to keep the gas flowing
National Grid Metering have continued to demonstrate that safety is at the heart of everything it does and remains an integral part of how it operates. As part of the businesses Strategic Asset Management Plan, the Metering team has attended an installation at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham, where the team manages risk due to the ageing asset.
While attending the HP asset site, National Grid Metering discovered some metal loss across one of the seam welds on a section of pipe, which halted the general maintenance work while a new design was drawn up and fabricated. The section of pipe, which was 39 metres long with no flanged joints to disconnect, certainly presented a challenge.
To overcome this the team, alongside service partner Penspen, was able to replace the pipe. Working with a specialist, they were able to cut the 24 inch diameter pipe into manageable sections, lifting the sections of pipe out by crane and then transported away from site. The asset has six new 12 inch sections of pipe connected together to restore the gas supply to Ford Motor Company.
Mark Tarran, Senior Integrity Engineer, said: "When we started work at Ford in 2019 the site looked in need of some TLC, the work that our Service Partner’s have carried out have helped to reduce the risk to us and to extend the life of this asset for Ford’s continued gas requirements for many years to come."
National Grid Metering has just under nine million assets across the UK. The maintenance of these assets is both important and necessary, ensuring they remain safe, reliable and efficient.
Contact us for more information of how we can protect and optimise asset life.
