New Bender ISOMETER Reduces the Cost and Risk of Legacy System Upgrades in Oil and Gas Platforms
February 8, 2021
Cost effective upgrades to existing oil and gas infrastructure are a key requirement for operators, extending the life of offshore plants. Globally, there are thousands of Bender IRDH1065 line insulation monitors (LIMs) installed in oil and gas fields on ungrounded electrical systems. As of January 2021, the ISOMETER iso1065 is available as a direct, straightforward replacement for the IRDH1065.
The ability to cost-effectively upgrade and replace monitoring technology is a key requirement in the maintenance programs for oil and gas fields. The direct fit and form ISOMETER iso1065 LIM is a plug-and-play IRDH1065 replacement, requiring no modification or additional equipment. It is quick and easy to install to complete any upgrade project.
Electrical faults due to insulation degradation are a primary cause of cable failure and system malfunction in harsh subsea environments. Continuous monitoring of power systems and umbilical cables by the iso1065 LIM detects low insulation resistance levels to identify these cable failures as far in advance as possible. Proactive preventative maintenance based on risk and asset condition assessment can be properly planned to avoid severe financial losses resulting from failure or unplanned shutdown.
Robbie Mewton, the Technical Sales Manager at Bender UK specializing in the oil and gas sector explains, “The iso1065 LIM has been specifically engineered by Bender to fill the gap left by the IRDH1065, which is no longer available but is still widely used by our customers. Our one-for-one replacement now offers the simplest, lowest-cost, and lowest-risk solution for oil and gas operators seeking to maintain legacy equipment with tried and trusted Bender technology.”
The iso1065 delivers an accurate overview of electrical system data and output readings of the insulation resistance levels — forewarning developing ground faults by alarming when the insulation resistance level falls below the field-selectable threshold value. It has modern communication protocols for analysis of subsea systems including Modbus RTU, BMS interface (Bender measuring device interface) for data exchange with other Bender components, and IsoData (for continuous data output). Each device is equipped with automatic self-test connection monitoring to ensure operational reliability and performance and save the time of engineers who conduct electrical system health checks.
