Atlas Copco announced that its compressors have been ordered for a new 100,000 sq m refurbishment contract awarded by Occidental Petroleum of Qatar to HBK Power Cleaning at PS1 offshore facilities.

Qatar’s HBK, recognised as one of the region’s leading specialists in all corrosion control and protective coating appli-cations for both offshore and onshore oil and gas instal-lations, has taken delivery of its first Atlas Copco XAMS  856 portable air compressor – purpose-ordered for its latest award to recoat 100,000 sq m on Oxy Oil Company’s PS1 offshore facilities.
The award follows the completion by HBK in December 2007 of recoated areas totaling a similar area of 100,000 sq m on PS1’s remote wellhead jackets, relying on eight Atlas Copco compressors for abrasive blasting and painting applications.
For its latest award, HBK has mobilised three Atlas Copco compressors including the new XAMS 856 onto the PS1 offshore facilities.
Additionally HBK currently has four Atlas Copco compressors performing similar duties at Qatar Petroleum’s PS2 and PS3 offshore facilities.
The new XAMS 856 compressor provides an actual free air delivery of 850 cfm at a pressure of 6.8 bar.  Commenting on the unit, HBK general manager Farooq Yassin said: “It is ideal for our blasting applications allowing four blasting guns compared with the previous XA 750 which only permitted three guns offering increased production – plus the additional power ensures additional penetration resulting in a better surface profile on steel.”
He added:  “We consider Atlas Copco to be the best air compressor and the company, with more than 30 years experience with the units, currently has around 20 Atlas Copco’s in our fleet.”
This includes a total of eight Atlas Copco compressors delivered by the local distributor Oriental Trading Co over the past year.
HBK’s core business is very much offshore but according to Yassin they are also receiving an increased order booking for on-shore operations and new fabrications.
The compressors are being used to blast 50 – 75µ profile normally and upto 110µ profile depths on blasting with abrasive garnet before the application of protective coating.
 Generally an area of 25 – 30 sq m is blasted over a seven hour shift offshore and 80 – 85 sq m on open steel.
HBK Power Cleaning was formed in 1973 and specialises in blasting and painting, fire proofing, refractory and insulation for oil and gas installations, both onshore and offshore.  This year has also seen the introduction of Clock Spring wrapping of leaking controls in refineries as a temporary solution to prevent shutdown.
Since Qatar Petroleum implemented its Offshore Preventative Maintenance Schedule in the late 70s, HBK Power Cleaning has been responsible for the majority of the corrosion control programmes.
Portable Air, a division within Atlas Copco’s Compressor Technique business area, develops, manufactures and markets portable oil-injected and oil-free air compressors, and generators for prime or standby power worldwide, under several brands, to the construction and general industries. The divisional headquarters and main production centre are located in Antwerp, Belgium.
Atlas Copco, with more than 130 years of experience, is a world-leading provider of industrial productivity solutions. The products and services range from compressed air and gas equipment, generators, construction and mining equipment, industrial tools and assembly systems, to related aftermarket and rental. The group is headquartered in Stockholm and has a reach of more than 150 markets.