In January 2014 Nautec was contracted by DIAVAZ for the provision of grouting services as part of the strengthening of the PB-AJ-1 Platform located in AKAL J, part of the KU-MALOOB-ZAAP field, Gulf of Mexico on the DSV TOISA PROTEUS vessel.
The Client
Nautec was commissioned by Grupo Diavaz for Mexican national oil & gas corporation PEMEX.
The Scope
The scope of the project included offshore mobilisation of grouting equipment and personnel; supply of grouting materials and infill grouting of two diagonal members via subsea injection of Nautec’s HPC (High Performance Cementitious) grout, NaX® Q110.
The Challenges
As some of the prerequisites for Nautec to carry out its job were not in place and bad weather closed in on the area there was a slight delay in the grouting works. Once conditions improved the team carried out the grouting works within the agreed 3-day schedule.
The Services
Nautec injected a total of 14 mT of NaX® Q110 grouting materials, 7 tons in each diagonal member. The grout was injected using a compact offshore grouting spread comprising of two custom-made mixers and a pump in combination with 2”-3” grout hoses. A team of divers assisted with the connection of the grout hoses on the inlet ports preinstalled on each diagonal member.
Client Benefit
NaX® Q110 is a ready to use cement-based dry powder system developed for this type of application. It is a highly flowable grout with a minimum mean strength of 50 MPa (i.e. approximately 510 kg/cm²) after 24 hours at 25 °C. It has been shown that infill grouting using HPC grout increases the capacity of a member by a factor of 2 to 3 to resist axial compression and bending moments, and prevent local buckling.
Click here to read the case history.