With 20 years of history in Gabon, Friedlander Gabon Port-Gentil is a specialist in new work, maintenance and construction of industrial units. From design through to completion, the company provides a full range of services for petrochemical and oil industry operators, from pipelines and sheet metalworking to mechanical engineering, erection, structures, painting and heat insulation.

Under the terms of the 10-year contract to maintain its hydrocarbon tanks at Cape Lopez, Total has commissioned Friedlander to revamp 10 crude oil storage tanks.

The work involved is complex, and includes everything from preliminary design work and the production of construction drawings to groundworks, civil engineering, lifting, handling, metal fabrication (pipelines, walls, bases and roofs) and API-compliant inspections. The Friedlander teams also conduct NDT controls, as well as checks on electrical systems, instrumentation and cathodic protection. They also provide sandblasting, painting, dimensional inspection, cleaning, testing and gauging services.

In addition to carrying out regular maintenance work on all tanks, Friedlander also diagnoses the individual weaknesses and failures of each tank. For example, following the partial collapse of the floating roof on tank 18, the entire 80-metre diameter roof structure had to be replaced. Only the supporting structure could be retained, but the damaged box sections were able to be straightened.

Tank 19 (90,000 m3, 80 metres in diameter and 19 metres high) is currently being refurbished, and requires the entire base of the tank to be replaced. But before this work can begin, the roof must be secured in place using a supporting framework, and the foundations must be refurbished with a sand and cement outer coating.

The skills and expertise of the Friedlander Gabon Port Gentil teams provide Total with tailormade solutions that deliver on time and take full account of the customer’s operating constraints.

Key figures:

• Maintenance/revamping of 10 tanks ranging from 460 m3 to 90,000 m3
• Up to 100 people working on site (including subcontractors)
• 120,000 hours of on-site working per year
• Subcontracting:
  • Civil engineering
  • Scaffolding/painting
  • NDT