DESIGNING SOLUTIONS FOR NOW THAT ARE READY TO SHAPE THE FUTURE. THIS IS NEXXIS.
HomeKnowledge CentreLatest News

Showcasing NEXXIS Innovation at the INPEX Open Day

The INPEX open/robotics day on 22 August 2024 was dedicated to demonstrating how cutting-edge technology can overcome some of the toughest NDT challenges – namely:

  • Working at height.
  • Confined space inspections.
  • Hazardous area inspection.

The event was organised to showcase some of the world-leading technologies designed and brought to market by NEXXIS. It was a unique opportunity for industry experts to view multiple product solutions in a single space.

In addition to equipment demos, attendees benefited from show-and-tell presentations, multiple case studies, current projects, off-the-shelf and custom solutions and the tailored NEXXIS approach to inspection and maintenance.

Who is INPEX?

INPEX is an oil & gas operator with three assets in Australia: Ichthys LNG – FPSO, CPF and the Darwin LNG plant. The offshore facilities are located 220 km offshore of Western Australia and 820 km southwest of Darwin.

Together, the INPEX facilities present a global range of assets that all require proactive inspection and maintenance to ensure optimal production. These include:

  • 890 km of gas export pipeline.
  • A floating production and offloading storage facility.
  • A central processing facility, which includes living space for around 200 personnel.
  • The Ichthys onshore processing facility, which includes two LNG processing trains, LPG and condensate plants, product storage tanks and a combined cycle power plant – and the capacity to produce 9.3 million tons of LNG per annum.

Showcasing Real-Time and Potential Application Solutions

Mega-production sites such as these require meticulous NDT solutions. Overcoming the multiple inspection challenges is underpinned by one vital requirement:

The need to keep production safely rolling without the need for extended downtime.

In addition, advanced NDT aims to:

  • Speed up inspection processes.
  • Reduce risk to all personnel.
  • Extend the lifespan of assets.
  • Remove the need for unnecessary maintenance procedures:
  • Increase the accuracy of inspections, with intuitive geolocation and the ability to return to a precise point in future inspections.
  • Gather long-term data to better understand the lifecycle of assets and define accurate mean time before failure (MTBF).
  • Reduce the risk of unexpected failure or catastrophic events.

NEXXIS brought members of various teams to the open day, with experts from Asset Integrity, Engineering, Operations and Procurement presenting a day crammed with demonstrations. These were complemented by a site tour, the identification for potential work scope and a valuable discussion about real-time inspection processes already in progress.

Products that were exhibited included:

  • Snowcat: A breakthrough modular remote tank inspection crawler that features a 360-degree continuous tilt camera. It has numerous configurations, allowing it to be tailored to return the highest quality HD images and video in a variety of confined space environments.
  • Panther: This innovative pipe crawler is, once again, fully modular, allowing bespoke configuration for virtually any pipe or confined space use. As with all of NEXXIS OEM products, the ability for multiple robot configurations is key, creating a platform that can address both common and unique inspection scenarios.
  • VETOL: A novel vertical pipe inspection solution (hallmarked by the same classic NEXXIS modularity), the robot is remotely controlled and utilises fibre optic technology for steadfast long-distance stability.
  • Juicebox: A true solution to inspection camera and robot control, this fully customisable platform seamlessly integrates with your chosen inspection asset via the NEXXIS robotics tether.
  • ARGUS Project: Utilising the Wildcat software from CSRIO, this LIDAR 3D SLAM mapping tool is an agnostic, versatile solution for internal asset inspection and data capture.
  • Camera systems: Scope 89, Qube and Monic were featured and demonstrated during the site tour and show-and-tell sessions.

Being onsite provided the ultimate opportunity to demonstrate another area of NEXXIS expertise – customised inspection. Two examples were looked at in detail: the Shell ICCP, using the Electrode Exchange Robot and the ALCOA—Power Train configuration that overcame a very particular vertical pipe inspection challenge.

These two individual solutions highlighted the versatility and dynamics of the field of custom robotics. Other areas of vessel and tank inspections were identified for potential improvement during the site tour. This included using both some of the customisable NEXXIS OEM products and other challenges that would benefit from state-of-the-art, individual robotic innovation.

Such NEXXIS capabilities are revolutionising the field of NDT, not only in the field of oil & gas, but in industries as diverse as mining, renewable energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, subsea, nuclear and more.

To find out more or arrange a demonstration of the above-mentioned products or any NEXXIS products, including inspection cameras, robotics and custom solutions, contact our team today.

Join our mailing list // Discover a world of forward-looking solutions designed to shape the future. Ready?