Petrofac, an international provider of integrated facilities services to the oil, gas and energy industries, has chosen a large Custom Consoles desk and auxiliary furniture for the engineering control room of the Thistle Alpha oil platform in the North Sea. It is equipped for simultaneous use by two operators and accommodates all the equipment necessary to regulate and monitor the platform’s round-the-clock gas extraction processes.
“The requirement was to centralise all key process control and monitoring functions at a single desk,” explains Custom Consoles Sales Manager Gary Fuller. “The desk had to accommodate two control room operators and a great deal of computerised support equipment. It is based on a U-shaped desk configured from our SteelBase product range. Designed and engineered for continuous use, it gives both operators easy access to their respective technical equipment and to the various storage compartments including two bespoke frames to accommodate large uninterrupted power supplies. The desk also had to provide good ventilation and integral cable ducting and be inherently fire resistant. It is now fully kitted out and has made a huge difference to the working conditions in the control room.”
“Two members of our staff, fully qualified for offshore work, flew out to the platform to install the desk.” adds Custom Consoles Managing Director Neil Reed. “The design produced for Thistle Alpha is in a 5.4 metre wide by 2.7 metre front-to-back horseshoe configuration and provides working space for two supervisors. The left-hand position provides access to two desktop equipment pods and five computer monitor screens with their respective keyboards. Each screen is supported by an Ergotron operator-adjustable arm mounted at the rear of the worktop. The right-hand position includes access to six monitors in a similar configuration.”
Custom Consoles’ SteelBase is a high-durability technical desking system which can be configured to provide an ergonomically efficient working environment for any size of control room. All elements of the desks are guaranteed against component failure for five years of normal use. The desks are built of high-grade MDF on 19 inch base frames with powder-coated textured-grey vertical panels. Desktops are surfaced in a choice of hard-wearing laminate or marmoleum. Additional design features of the SteelBase range include hinged removable access doors, 19 inch equipment racking, sliding equipment trays, electrical cable management, power distribution and data panels and variable-speed ventilation fans.
Petrofac (www.petrofac.com <http://www.petrofac.com/> ) was established 31 years ago as an oilfield service company. It has since grown from 25 members of staff based at Tyler, Texas, into a global operation with more than 15,000 employees active across six business units. Its role today centres on designing and building oil and gas infrastructure.
Custom Consoles (www.customconsoles.co.uk <http://www.customconsoles.co.uk/> ) operates from a 1,200 square metre production facility equipped with 3D computer-aided-design and computer-controlled cutting machinery. This provides the dual benefits of precise quality control and prompt delivery times, typically 21 days from receipt of order. The company’s client base includes governmental and corporate organisations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia.
Accompanying 300 DPI images show the new Custom Consoles SteelBase desk and auxiliary furniture installed in the engineering control room of the Thistle Alpha oil platform.
