Name: Alan Knowles
Job Title: Civil and Construction Specialist
Started at Jee: July 2002
I joined Jee in 2002 after many years working for both large and small companies. Here at Jee, study work includes knowledge of worldwide standards and their differences. The use of FEA and CFD may be required for detailed designs. Work tends to be very intense but of short duration and is reported within a few months.
However, a significant part of my workload involves presenting and developing short training courses. Our public courses are given in Aberdeen, Abu Dhabi, Houston, Perth and Kuala Lumpur with in-house courses for the leading operators and contractors, wherever oil and gas may be found.
This exposes me to the different techniques and approaches used worldwide, which are constantly changing. Some systems commonly used even a decade ago are now unheard of. Some practices in the North Sea differ from those of the Gulf of Mexico, and yet other methods are used in the Far East. For example, flexible pipelines are widely used in Brazil, in preference to rigid steel lines; hyperbaric welding is almost unknown in the USA but has been undertaken recently in European and Australian waters.
Because discussion and comment is encouraged on courses, delegates often describe new techniques they have just used on a recent job, with some evaluation of their success or otherwise. As a company, we are therefore kept up-to-date of methods actually being used, with problems encountered so that our courses are constantly updated to keep them as current as possible. Reading conference papers alone provides a sanitised version of the industry; novel or unused practices are often found in publicity material issued by companies.
Presenters therefore need to have knowledge in a wider field than presented on each course and have an understanding of how unusual or common each method or design approach is. Current awareness is also needed of HSE incidents and their causes and consequences.
Through our training courses, Jee is recognised as a company with cutting-edge knowledge and this leads to further consultancy work solving unusual problems. These are often in areas just beyond the scope of current codes of practice and common design practices. Jee frequently undertakes such research both as desk studies and practical work.
When new issues of codes appear, there are sometimes discrepancies that clients require to be resolved. This may be because the codes are conservative in their approach. For example, the latest DNV method of evaluating VIV on spans has flagged up possible problems with existing pipelines that were formerly deemed to be safe. Knowledge of the theoretical background to the approach may be needed along with known ‘grey areas’ in design.
This is in contrast to other companies, where the emphasis may be on repetitive design studies, reproducing the success of the previous work from in-company knowledge whilst avoiding any pitfalls encountered. Sometimes, a full understanding of the previous work may not be achieved and new issues have ensued, leading to increased costs.
Jee also provides expertise to ISO and BS committees in drafting new codes, as well as running joint industry studies into as-yet unresolved design issues for the offshore industry.