January 13, 2022 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

“Life extension of offshore platforms, through retrofit CP design assisted by modelling’’ – Talk by Dr Paolo Marcassoli, Cathodic Protection and Inspections Manager at Cescor, and Istvan Bartha, Independent Subsea Consultant.

Thousands of permanent offshore structures for oil and gas production in the world, including steel jacket platforms, are reaching or have exceeded their original design life. They require extension of life or re-qualification programs to prolong their operating life. Cathodic protection (CP) is one of the issues to be carefully managed as part of this process. In case the original CP system cannot guarantee the planned residual life, a retrofit intervention shall be designed and executed.  The design of CP retrofit systems, although technically adhering to the stipulations of the applicable codes, does not necessarily follow the criteria and approaches adopted for new facilities, as the intervention requires to be executed with the structure in-place, and this has a strong impact on installation requirements and costs. Accordingly, dedicated CP expertise has been developed for retrofit applications, aimed to select the most convenient system. A tailored approach is followed, by considering the most appropriate design parameters, affected by the present polarisation conditions, presence of marine growth and calcareous deposit on the structure. Finite Element Method (FEM) and Boundary Element Method (BEM) modelling are extensively and successfully used as part of the selection and optimisation of galvanic anode or impressed current systems.

In this presentation, the definition of CP design parameters and the optimisation activity assisted by modelling are illustrated from the viewpoint of real industrial application; taking into consideration limitations imposed during the installation phase.

About the presenters:

Dr. Paolo Marcassoli (Cescor – Cathodic Protection and Inspections Manager)

Paolo Marcassoli has fifteen years’ experience in materials and corrosion engineering and cathodic protection engineering gained in academic field and the onshore and offshore oil & gas industry, offshore wind, civil and infrastructures. After 6 years of academic and research work at University of Bergamo, he joined Cescor in January 2012 and he was Manager of business line Products in July 2012, Production Manager in August 2013 and Inspections and Production Manager in October 2014.

He holds the position of Cathodic Protection and Inspections Manager since April 2019.

He primarily carries out activities in the fields of CP design and FEM modeling, monitoring and CP inspections, corrosion control.

Istvan Bartha (Independent Subsea Consultant)

Istvan Bartha is an experienced Subsea Integrity Engineer with over 20 years of experience in field of subsea, pipelines, structures and bridge engineering, who participated in major Oil and Gas projects ranging from concept and design stages through to fabrication, installation and operation of new and ageing assets.

Following obtaining his BSc degree in Metallurgical Engineering, he worked 7 years in the bridge construction industry in Hungary, followed by moving in the UK in 2008 to pursue a career in the British Oil & Gas industry. In Britain, he gained experience in onshore and offshore application of Cathodic Protection systems working for Pipeline Maintenance Ltd, then joined Wood where worked as a Senior Integrity Engineer, responsible for development of Integrity Management Strategies for various Clients. In 2016 he completed his MSc studies in Subsea Engineering at Cranfield University, and currently acting as Subsea Pipelines Technical Authority for Petrofac North Sea operated assets as an Independent Contractor.     

Istvan understands key design and operational principles of onshore, subsea and topside production, and control systems, requiring detailed analyses of technical data such as RBI, FMECA, RCA or CP, collaboration with other engineering disciplines and close interface with the Client. Coordinated project development, participated in contract proposals and development of detailed engineering solutions and technical authority guidance.

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