Decom Engineering

DECOM ENGINEERING I PROFILE

Subsea construction and demolition solutions specialist Decom Engineering offers unique, industry-leading cutting innovations and value-adding pipe coating removal solutions. After witnessing a major industrial catastrophe, a visionary father and son team decided that the industry needed better tools to avoid a repeat, and thus Decom Engineering was born. Richard Hagan spoke to Commercial Director Nick McNally to find out how Decom Engineering’s solutions are changing the way customers work.

Established in 2012, Decom Engineering was founded by current CEO Sean Conway and his father, an engineer.

The pair were moved to action in 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. Watching the catastrophic oil spill unfold - which saw over four million barrels of oil drain into the sea in the largest oil spill in the history of marine drilling – Sean and his father decided that there had to be a better, faster way to cut and cap the well. Harnessing Sean’s business education and his father’s engineering skills, the two men established Decom Engineering. They immediately began working on designing and building the saw they had envisioned as a solution, in a project that would ultimately take eight years.

Simultaneously, Decom Engineering developed its Pipe Coating Removal (PCRM) technology, a solution which would go on to become one of its most important developments. Decom Engineering subsequently secured major investments from a private equity partner, propelling the development of its Chop Saw which was launched to the market in mid-2021.

A cut above the rest

Today, Decom Engineering has two products: Its PCRM solution, and its C1 Chop Saw. Its PCRM machine is a groundbreaking technology that removes the hardened plastic protective coating from subsea pipes. As opposed to conventional, energy-intensive and time-consuming solutions for removing that coating, PCRM is a completely cold process that also captures all of the waste plastic. The high-quality plastic salvaged from these pipes is then sent for recycling.

The pipework can then be reused in construction, particularly for pilings. “We refer to the PCRM process as ‘unlocking the value of the steel’,” said Commercial Director Nick McNally. “It’s better for the economy, better financially, and better for the environment because instead of ordering brand new steel, the construction industry can use steel that’s already made, so there’s no carbon footprint,

resulting in a 98 per cent carbon saving. It’s good for the economy because it’s cheaper for the construction industry and it makes the steel available at very short lead times.”

Decom Engineering’s C1 Chop Saw is a uniquely robust cutting solution developed for the oil and gas industry. The C1 features a rotating blade set between t wo hydraulic jaws, allowing it to be reliably clamped onto anything that needs to be cut. In cutting scenarios in which a clean cut is required, it’s the undeniably superior solution, particularly measured against competing diamond wire-based tools.

“The C1 saw saves the vessel substantial amounts of time,” said Mr McNally. “We are able to do cut after cut, repeatedly – all of them in one go, without having to recover

the saw, change the wire, and send it back down after each cut.

“We’ve found that our ‘sweet spot’ is where we have to cut material that diamond wire and shears cannot cut –primarily very hard steel or plastic or concrete-coated steel,” he continued. “We’re also much more reliable where multiple cuts are involved. Our speed plus our reliability saves the vessel time, and that’s the most important factor for us and for our customers.”

Project milestones

Decom Engineering’s C1 chop saws have been proven in some of the most demanding projects worldwide. A particular highlight was a project off the coast of Mauritania, West Africa, in which Decom Engineering was contracted by Havfram to be the sole cutting contractor for a substantial scope involving decommissioning a Petronas field. The

work involved cutting 84mm R4 stud-less mooring chains, umbilicals and termina tion heads, at a water depth ranging from 900 to 1,000 metres, and all powered via an ROV.

“We had specifically designed and tested our equipment for operations at that depth, but this project was our first opportunity to prove it,” said Mr McNally. “After successfully and quickly cutting through the material involved in the scope, the client requested additional works that we had not planned to cut.

“We agreed: and we were able to cut the additional two material types: in only

two minutes per cut versus the 40 minutes that it had been taking with a different solution that the client had previously tried. We saved the client three days of vessel time!”

Footprint and the Future

Decom Engineering’s administrative headquarters is located in Belfast, but t hanks to the company’s steady growth, it will soon be moving into a large new facility in Aberdeen, Scotland, to put it as close as possible to the oil and gas industry there. “The new facility will include a warehouse and office space and it’s where most of our future hires will be based,” Mr McNally confirmed.

As demonstrated by the Mauritania project, Decom Engineering is a global business and as of early 2023, it had

active work sites in Thailand, the Congo, t he Bass Strait in Australia and the North Sea. Meanwhile, the company is busy on its latest innovation; a very large new variant of its chop saw capable of tackling the biggest projects.

“The new saw is our C146; it’s a game-changer and it represents our next major step in innovation,” said Mr McNally. “It will be able to cut from two to 46-inch pipes, thanks to its 2.8-metre-wide blade.”

In order to service growing demand, Decom Engineering is also swiftly expanding its fleet of saws. Between late 2021 and early 2023, its fleet grew from only two to 11 saws, with additional saws still on order by mid-2023. Simult-aneously, the company is growing its con

sultancy business as customers i ncreasingly turn to Decom Engineering for its various types of specialist, expert assistance on site during cutting operations.

In conclusion, Mr McNally shared his thoughts on the future. “The decommissioning market looks strong for at least the next 50 years – especially with the various new fields being established as a result of the current geopolitical climate.

“We also see growing opportunities within renewables: for example many wind turbines are reaching the end of their life and must be replaced. Nuclear energy also has many exotic materials that must be cut. So we are optimistic that there is a bright, strong future for our specialist solutions!” n