Skill Exchanger – ASL Group Goes for Growth in the Gulf
Water Jetting Association member ASL Group has been commissioned to refurbish a 110-tonne heat exchanger at its newest operational centre in the United Arab Emirates.
The storage tank cleaning, refurbishment and manufacturing specialist brought in two 250-tonne cranes to lift the giant piece of equipment off a low loader ready for it to be dismantled and refurbished at the site in Dubai Industrial City.
The project demonstrated some of the company’s key capabilities, as ultra-high pressure water jetting and shot blasting are essential to the cleaning process.
The heat exchanger’s internal tube bundle will be replaced with a new one designed and manufactured at ASL Group’s Dubai centre by its subsidiary – Poole Process Equipment Industrial LLC.
ASL Group has more than 50 years of experience carrying out industrial cleaning, and manufacturing storage tanks and pressure vessels for oil, gas and petrochemicals industries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South East Asia.
The company was founded in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, UK. Along with the new operations center in Dubai, there are well-progressed plans to open a similar operation in Damman, Saudi Arabia, as demand for ASL Group’s services grow in the region.
ASL Group Managing Director Peter Johnson said: “We’ve been delivering industrial cleaning and manufacturing services to Gulf states for many years, decades in the case of industrial cleaning.
“In line with the strategic development wishes of governments within the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, in the last six years we’ve invested in establishing and developing businesses in the region.
“For example, Poole Process Equipment Industrial LLC is a mirror image of our manufacturing business, Poole Process Equipment Ltd, in the UK and has just achieved ASME U and NBBI certification.
“It has talented engineers, technicians and managers recruited in the Gulf to deliver the same high quality services and drive the business forward, with both companies support each other.
“This latest heat exchanger refurbishment project is just one of many completed or in our order book and it demonstrates perfectly the capacity and capability of out teams in the Gulf.”
The company is one of the longest standing members of the WJA. Its newest venture is a new training division, the Water Jetting Training Academy Ltd, which is a WJA-registered training provider.
It has two centres, so far – the Water Jetting Training Academy in the UK and the Water Jetting Training Centre LLC in Dubai. Both deliver all WJA training courses, plus a full range of accredited first aid and industrial medical courses, with plans for more training options to be added over the coming months.
Peter Johnson explained: “Skills training is fundamental to what we do and is essential to tank and pipe bundle cleaning, given the power of the high and ultra-high water jetting systems we use.
“WJA City & Guilds accredited water jetting training is highly respected in Gulf states and across the Middle East. Our clients know the courses are based on WJA Codes of Practice that have been developed over many years and represent best practice in the water jetting industry.”
ASL Group has developed a strong strategic partnership with Juman Energy Group, a division of Ghobash Group, delivering storage tank and heat exchanger manufacturing and cleaning services.
The company delivers similar services for Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, SABIC, ESSO EXXON, P66, INEOS, Total Oil, Shell, Prax, and Valero.
Through its UK business, ASL PowerStream Services Ltd, the company can draw on many decades of experience to deliver water jetting services for cleaning and surface preparation, as well as cold cutting, an essential skilled service in bulk gas and liquid storage environments.