Decommissioning has become a new buzzword in the offshore and nuclear industries. Dwindling oil prices and a shift towards more renewable energy sources has turned many operators’ attention towards decommissioning their ageing assets.

To say that dismantling and recovering these huge installations is difficult would be an understatement. The process is expensive, time consuming and can be hazardous. Any equipment used should be robust and reliable and be safe to operate. Thankfully, there’s portable machine tools available which have been designed specifically to ensure these projects are completed efficiently and safely.

Mirage has responded to the challenges presented by customers with purpose designed products – some which have now become part of the standard Mirage product line up.

Let’s take a look at some examples of decommissioning projects, and the Mirage products used.

Whether you’re carrying out maintenance work or decommissioning projects in the oil and gas or petrochemicals sectors, at some point you may be faced with the challenge of seized flange bolts. By default, flange joints in the oil and gas sector need to be tight and secure, and over time can be stubborn and tricky to separate. Some engineers may be tempted to use hand held reciprocating saws, but these can be slow, inefficient and uncomfortable for the operator.

As many offshore oil rigs reach the end of their life, the need for portable machine tools to assist with decommissioning is set to increase. One example of a difficult challenge faced by decommissioning engineers is the need to sever and lift caissons or casings - often in very difficult and extreme working conditions. Finding the right equipment to carry out these operations efficiently and safely isn’t easy – which is why the Mirage design team have designed three types of casing pin drills for different situations. Let’s take a look at these three machines.

Portable band saws are designed to be robust and simple to use. If you use them correctly you’ll experience hours of trouble-free cutting with plenty of use from each band saw blade.

With Mirage Portable Band Saws, you get an M42 carbide tipped blade provided as standard. These rugged bi-metal blades feature M42 high speed steel edges - making them ideal to use when cutting difficult to machine solids and heavy walled structures. So if you intend to cut heavy walled pipe and other oil & gas structures these are the blades to use.

Getting involved in portable machining projects within the nuclear power sector isn’t normally a quick and simple process. The unique nature of some projects (especially in nuclear decommissioning), the safety risks involved, getting security clearance, and the lengthy tender processes can be off putting to say the least.

But for those who do win the contracts, there’s plenty of familiar opportunities from on-site machining.

Away from the nuclear reactor, the fundamentals are pretty much the same as for fossil fuel power stations. There’s steam turbines to be maintained and plenty of pipe and flange joints to be kept safe and secure. 

So for those of you unfamiliar with the nuclear power sector and thirst for knowledge, we’ve put together an A to Z of the essentials. This is to give you a very basic introduction, so if you want to know more see the websites listed at the end of the article.