As a specialist spraying and coating provider to a variety of industries, Wicked Coatings offers the highest levels of quality and inspection for protective coatings. We spoke to Derek Righini, quality manager at Wicked Coatings whose job is to ensure continuous commitment to producing quality outcomes.
What is your NACE qualification and what does it offers customers?
Derek: I’m a NACE & Icorr Certified Coating inspector -Level 3. This is a peer reviewed qualification that demonstrates your knowledge, experience and ability, to a panel of industry experienced peers. It shows that you are competent to represent the USA National Association of Engineers in corrosion protection, through the application of protective coatings on critical projects, in harsh marine and industrial environments.
It is important to customers because they need to mitigate against future costly fabric maintenance regimes and prevent corrosion, which could lead to disastrous consequences for plant, people and the environment.
What did you have to do to achieve the qualification?
Derek: I have extensive experience in the oil and gas industry, including corrosion surveys, coating applications for a wide range of industrial applications, fabric maintenance, and new build. This includes inspection of coatings, fire proofing and insulation systems to line pipe, vessels, columns, tanks, spools, structure etc., on offshore oil and gas platforms, onshore well sites, tank farms and refineries.
How long have you held the qualification?
Derek: I have held NACE level three for ten years, but I have had certification in coating inspection for thirty years. This started with BGAS, then ICORR and at present I hold ICORR Painting Inspector Level 3, and NACE Certified Coating inspector -Level 3 concurrently.
Do you have other similar work-placed qualifications?
Derek:
NACE Certified Coating Inspector -Level 3
ICORR Painting Inspector Level 3
ICORR Fire Proofing Inspector
ICORR Pipeline Coating inspector
ICORR Insulation Inspector
CSWIP 3.1 Level 2 Industrial Weld Inspector
SSPC Planning and Specifying Industrial Coatings Projects (C2)
With your qualifications, Wicked Coatings can sign off that work is completed to NORSOK standards. What does this mean?
Derek: NORSOK engineering standards have been developed by the Norwegian petroleum industry to ensure adequate safety, value adding and cost effectiveness for petroleum industry developments and operations. NORSOK standards are as far as possible intended to replace oil company specifications and serve as references in the authorities’ regulations across the Oil & Gas and Renewable Power Industries.
We are primarily concerned with NORSOK M-501 Surface Preparation and Protective Coating.I personally also have extensive experience with NORSOK R-004 Piping and Equipment Insulation.
These standards provide people and organisations with a basis for mutual understanding, specify a minimum acceptance level for quality and are used as tools to facilitate communication, measurement, commerce and manufacturing
What attracted you to Wicked Coatings?
Derek: I was extremely impressed with the drive and ambition of the two young directors, Chris and Lyle, to expand the company through their continual commitment to providing a quality outcome to their customers.
I felt I could get on board and help them achieve their aims through my lifetime’s experience as a QC and client inspector in industrial coatings, fireproofing, insulation, corrosion surveys and quality management. Wicked Coatings is also local to my home, so I am able to get home to my own bed every night and stop contract working away from home. Wicked has happened at a good time for me.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Derek: The variety of products that we handle and working with an enthusiastic, quality conscious team that demand we produce and supply the best quality finish whether it is industrial or specialist coatings.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on?
Derek: Wow, there has been so many. Last year, for example, I spent four months as the QA on a deck extension and the installation of a three-pass cryogenic heat exchanger and column on one of ExxonMobil’s largest gas producing offshore platforms on the planet, the East Area Platform (EAP). Which is situated offshore Nigeria in the Niger Delta.
The heat that was being installed is the equipment that liquefies the extracted gas from beneath the sea floor. It was a $250 million project, this was not including the loss of production of gas costing a further £5 million per day, in total it was a multi-billion-dollar contract. I was the Client inspector responsible for the quality of the coatings, cryogenic insulation and Chartek 7, fireproofing application.
Just to spice things up there was a gun ship patrolling the platform 24 hours per day to prevent ‘pirates’ boarding and armed guards onshore to deter kidnappers. The project certainly had its interesting moments.
Closer to home, I worked at Wytch Farm Gathering station (Poole Harbour) and Hamble Tank Farm (Solent) as a coating engineer representing BP and Perenco on a number of fronts including corrosion surveys, QA Inspector on fireproofing, insulation and coatings on fabric maintenance of spools, structures, vessel linings, crude oil tank linings and floating roofs, jetties, pontoons, pipeline field coats etc.