Engineering news
Atlas Copco has more than doubled the size of its Hemel Hempstead site in Hertfordshire and upgraded key machinery to support growth in international markets.
The custom engineering workshop, which designs and assembles bespoke compressed air and nitrogen generation plant for the oil and gas industry, has grown from 850m2 to 1950m2 with the addition of a mezzanine level and an external 12 x 15m covered test area.
As part of the £680,000 upgrade, Atlas Copco has also installed 2 new 5 tonne cranes, trackways and controls, to enable the facility to continue to make some of the largest bespoke “plug and play” packages of compressor plant in the world.
Nico Delvaux, president of compressor technique at Atlas Copco, said: “The Hemel Hempstead site was established in 1972 to serve customers operating in the North Sea but, since beginning to fulfil orders from oil and gas operators internationally in 2008, has taken on even greater importance. The investment we have made is a testament to that and will help us meet the long-term needs of the oil and gas and other industries for many years to come.”
Other machinery additions to the workshop include a grit blast and spray paint facility and test equipment which Atlas Copco said will shorten lead times on orders. The test equipment includes permanently installed equipment such as orifice plates, silencers, flow tubes and electrical equipment.
In 2012 the Hemel Hempstead workshop designed and built the largest ever “custom engineered package” shipped from the UK. The 144 tonne, £6 million air compressors package was sent to Kazakhstan to be used in an oil and gas installation. It was air freighted using an Antonov 124 because of its size and weight.
Paul Frost, manager of Atlas Copco Systems Hemel Hempstead, said: “Each project is different because customer requirements tend to be unique for the intended environment. We have recently supplied compressor packages which must operate in a range of temperatures from -40ºC to +45ºC in Russia and to an oil company in the Middle East where reliable operation at +55ºC is required to withstand regular sand storms.”