How Cold Stacking Can Help Save Money for Inactive Oil Rigs
What is Cold Stacking?
Cold stacking a rig means that the hatches are closed and the crew is cut down to zero or just a few important people. The rig is then “stored” in a harbour, shipyard, or a designated area off the coast until it needs to be turned on again.
On a warm stacked rig, a small crew stays on the rig and it’s ready for work. Because a cold-stacked rig doesn’t need as many people and doesn’t need as much fuel, its owner can save a lot of money.
When the cold stacked rig is not in use, steps will need to be taken to protect it. Remember that the ocean is a very bad place, with a lot of humidity, saltwater, and a lot of rough weather.
Even in a short amount of time, the conditions of cold stacked drilling rigs and cold stacked oil rigs can change. There may be times when a drilling rig or an oil drilling rig isn’t available, or it may need a lot of money to be fixed before it can be used again.
More modern rigs are better at technology. This means that when there is a cold stack, the more electronics and computer systems there are, the more likely it is that they will break. Insurance companies will also need to be comfortable with the state in which drilling contractors are leaving their assets so that when they return to work, they will be able to do what they were hired to do.
Cold stacked rigs are almost never used anymore, so preserving them is the main goal.
The things to watch out for when you do cold stacks
The skill of cold stacking is learned over time. The following are our suggestions for what you need to do in order to make it.
1) Cooling down and dehumidifying
Equipment can be damaged quickly because of high humidity and rising temperatures. Use temporary air conditioners, chillers, dehumidifiers, and air handling units to control the temperature and dehumidify things like your clothes and your tools.
Mechanical refrigeration can also be very good at getting rid of humidity in offshore environments for cold stacked rigs. As an example, Transocean cold stacked several rigs by tempering the space rather than adding heat, which led to a 35% to 40% drop in power capacity.
2) LOGICS ARE IMPORTANT
You need to be ready to look for solutions that work for smaller spaces on your boat. If you have a small deck, for example, you could use industrial air conditioners with high static blowers.
These units are bigger in size and, by design, move a lot more air in a long way. ductwork, cable and drain lines on the ship’s decks should also be thought about.
CONCLUSION
To cut costs during one of the most uncertain times in the industry’s history is a must. Because of this, cold stacking is a good choice for drilling contractors who want to stay in business.
A temporary power and air conditioning rental that can be used to keep your equipment safe are ideal. The future is unknown, but you can control how much money you save by cold stacking. Cortec Middle East offers cost-effective corrosion control solutions for drilling rig, cold stacking, rig stacking, warm stacking, offshore corrosion problems, drilling types of equipment and critical spares in the UAE.
