Across four complementary areas of expertise, Glacier Energy has been managing and supporting full turnkey projects and maintenance scopes for new and existing Chemical plants for decades.

Our inhouse thermal and mechanical engineers have built up significant expertise over the years from partnering with clients throughout the Chemical industry. Glacier Energy has been involved in a range of projects including scopes to manufacture new replacement units to clients’ specifications, retubing existing equipment onsite or in our workshops and cleaning and servicing existing units to the desired cleanliness, allowing for full NDT to be carried out.

For any NDT requirements, our Inspection experts can assist you in maintaining the integrity of your critical equipment. Phased Array is often used in Chemical plants, when quick and accurate inspections are necessary due to time constraints during outages. In addition, our advanced non-destructive testing techniques, particularly eddy current, pulsed eddy current and iris inspection have been used on various projects for condensers, pressure vessels, heat exchangers, tanks and pipework throughout the Chemical industry.

Glacier Energy has strengthened the team with a new appointment welcoming George Craig as HTX Digital Business Manager. George’s role will involve driving the commercialisation of Glacier Energy’s innovative and predictive maintenance service, HTX Digital.

George joins the team with a background of working in the Oil and Gas industry and has spend the last few years working on the development of predictive and condition-based systems.

Business Development Director, Tracie Watson commented on the new appointment and said: “George's extensive knowledge and expertise will be a great addition to the team, and we are delighted to have him on board. Continued awareness of HTX Digital is vital to help our clients address heat exchanger challenges such as fouling, vibration and energy efficiency.”

George added “I am pleased to be on board at an exciting time for Glacier Energy and to be supporting the ongoing growth of the business with HTX Digital. I look forward to working with the team and contributing my expertise to help drive the awareness of the benefits of the service throughout the coming months.”

Glacier Energy recognised the need for a tool like HTX Digital as lost production in the UKCS due to heat transfer equipment failures, is estimated to be around £600million per annum. To tackle this issue, HTX Digital has the potential to reduce maintenance costs and unplanned downtime by up to 30%. Furthermore, it can measure and monitor the carbon footprint of heat exchangers to help reduce CO₂ intensity and emissions from operations.

Want to talk to us about HTX Digital and predictive maintenance services? Contact our Aberdeen office.

Glacier Energy’s Inspection Services division has achieved IRATA Membership. IRATA, the leading professional Rope Access authority’s membership is a fantastic addition to the existing achievements of the Inspection Services division. Previous achievements include the recent Safe Contractor accreditation, being an ISO17020 accredited Type C UKAS Inspection body and being ISO9001, 14001 and 45001 Certified.

To achieve the IRATA membership, the team worked hard to ensure all requirements were met. The team went through an extensive auditing process to ensure all management system procedures were compliant along with confirming the new Rope Access procedure and risk register met IRATA’s requirements.

It is a requirement of IRATA members to follow approved procedures, which will be continually assessed through audit, review and control both internally and externally. This will contribute towards ensuring the quality and safety of the work being carried out is sustained.

The achievement of the membership further assures clients of a safe working environment for all NDT requirements via Rope Access. The membership builds on the rigorous safety regulations that Glacier Energy already has in place including UKAS appointed chartered professionals such as PCN Level 3 Supervisors and Technical Authorities.

In the coming months, Rope Access will be added to the UKAS scope, thereby providing clients with further confidence of Glacier Energy’s high quality safety standards being maintained over time.

Want to talk about a Rope Access project? Contact our Aberdeen office.

Find out about our Rope Access services.

The Oil and Gas sector’s influence on our day to day lives is significant. Whether it be for our fuel for our vehicles or for heating our homes. However, now more than ever, operators are under continued pressure to optimise the performance of essential equipment.

As a result of these mounting pressures, a trusted partner is required to help maximise productivity and reduce downtime. With decades of experience within the Oil and Gas sector, Glacier Energy understands the need to ensure safe yet profitable operations for our clients. We provide innovative solutions on how to do things more efficiently and effectively by offering custom engineering solutions to solve unique challenges.

For this month’s blog, Gregor Dewar, Technical Sales Manager within our Inspection Services division discussed his career journey so far and his current role at Glacier Energy. Gregor joined Glacier Energy in 2021 after holding a range of operational and area manager roles supporting NDT, fabrication and coating in the onshore and offshore energy sectors for over 17 years. Gregor’s roles have been located within the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Q1.   How did you kickstart your career in NDT?

I started my career in NDT working initially as an assistant Radiographer. Throughout the early years of my career, I developed my knowledge and achieved various NDT and Inspection qualifications. This led to working on various onshore and offshore construction projects including refineries, AGI’s, installation of offshore jackets, risers, platforms, flare towers, bridges, ship repair and the construction of cross country and sub-sea pipelines.

Q2.   Tell us about how your career progressed from there?

I held NDT Technician, Welding and Coating Inspector roles for several years with much of this work taking place on cross country pipelines. I also spent some time offshore working on pipe lay-vessels as a QA/QC Inspector in the North Sea and West Africa.

To further my career, I relocated to the Middle East and moved into a managerial role working as an area manager in NDT and Heat Treatment. As well as managerial roles in the Middle East, I was also involved in an operational role covering the region supplying equipment and services for the construction of cross-country pipelines on major large-scale projects.

Q3.   What is your current role at Glacier Energy?

I am a Technical Sales Manager within Glacier Energy’s Inspection Services division. My role involves contributing to the Inspection Services divisions growth. Using knowledge gained over my career, I help clients find solutions to expand the lifespan of their critical equipment and provide trusted support for their products, projects and processes.

Q4.   What attracted you to Glacier Energy to continue to develop your career?

Glacier Energy’s has a long-established track record in providing clients with both conventional and advanced NDT services. The team is multi-sector experienced with multiple level 3 technicians and UKAS Type C accredited. Therefore, I knew it would be a great company to develop my career. Additionally, as Glacier Energy is an active participant in the energy transition, I seen this as an opportunity to get involved and support clients as we move towards the net zero target.

Q5. What’s next for Glacier Energy’s Inspection services division?

It is an exciting time for the company with our new rope access offering. The service complements our extensive NDT capabilities, allowing us to meet additional needs for our clients. We are now looking forward to continuing working in partnership with our clients and carrying out additional scopes across the UK and Europe.

Learn more about our Inspection Services division.

Glacier Energy, a leading international provider of specialist products, services and engineering solutions for energy infrastructure, has had a successful first half of 2022 with several renewable contract wins. Glacier Energy, like many companies has diversified their portfolio into the renewable industry. This diversification follows the strong track record established through supporting clients throughout the oil and gas, chemical and industrial industries.

With more than 80 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of pressure vessels and heat exchangers, Glacier Energy are well placed to support the development of sustainable energy solutions. In addition to their heat transfer expertise, Glacier Energy has been present in the wind industry for more than 30 years supporting clients with NDT services on the fabrication of monopiles and transition pieces for windfarms in the UK and Europe.

As a result of their capabilities in the renewable space, Glacier Energy has been supporting various clients with renewable projects at FEED stage. The recent contract wins involve the design and manufacture of a reboiler for a carbon capture trial and 3 different scopes for the design and manufacture of shell and tube heat exchangers and pressure vessels for a new renewable plant.

The inspection team have also been busy carrying out inspection and maintenance work on windfarms for clients to minimise downtime. This has involved carrying out Internal and External Close Visual Inspection and Lightening Protection System Surveys on wind turbine generators via rope access inspection and Phased Array inspection projects to support the maintenance and integrity of client’s critical equipment.

Business Development Director, Tracie Watson commented on the recent wins and said: “The first half of the year has been an exciting time for Glacier Energy. It has been particularly enjoyable partnering with clients to help solve problems in their renewable project’s plans”

“We are effectively applying our knowhow and years of experience to these projects, many of which have never been done before and are in the early stages”.

“The contract wins reflect Glacier Energy’s extensive capabilities and shows how we can apply our technical knowledge and expertise to a range of different projects. I am optimistic for the rest of the year”.

Learn more about Glacier Energy’s renewable capabilities.

Shiva Afraste is a Key Account Manager within our Heat Transfer division. Shiva has over a decade of experience within the Heat Transfer field and we discussed her time at Glacier Energy and how Shiva and the team can support our clients.

What is your current role at Glacier Energy?

I am a Key Account Manager at Glacier Energy. My role involves account managing existing and developing new customers. Recently, I have been given the exciting opportunity to expand our offering into the North West of the country to focus on renewable projects. This includes Hynet, CCUS and Hydrogen projects within the area.

What is your experience within the Heat Transfer field?

I have been working within the Heat Transfer field for over a decade. Throughout this time, I have supported onshore, offshore, power and renewable operators, consultants and EPCS with their thermal transfer and pressure vessel requirements.

What have you enjoyed most about your time with Glacier Energy so far?

The working environment is dynamic, collaborative and fun. Glacier Energy is a forward-thinking company, especially when it comes to the renewable market which makes it an exciting place to work. With our extensive inhouse competency and track record, I am confident that we can provide our clients with more efficient, reliable and sustainable heat transfer solutions which results in high job satisfaction.

How can you and your team help tackle any heat transfer challenges that your clients have?

We are highly responsive and build strong, collaborative partnerships with our clients. By understanding their problems and challenges, our team helps create innovative solutions ensuring all designs optimise the efficiency of their assets.

According to the National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios (FES) report, hydrogen is “required” to meet the UK government’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

In fact, the most credible pathway outlined in the latest FES report indicates that the UK’s renewable energy sector will need to deliver a tenfold increase in hydrogen production if we’re going to meet our clean energy commitments.

But the storage and transport of green or blue hydrogen is still a major challenge for the UK’s hydrogen production, supply and storage companies. Hydrogen is an ultralight gas, which means that it needs to be compressed (and kept at high pressure) or chilled to at least −252.87 °C before it can be stored or transported effectively.

Plans include building dedicated hydrogen pipelines and storing hydrogen gas in naturally occurring salt caverns, both of these ideas require substantial investment and a more developed hydrogen industry.

Finding a cost-efficient and safe way to store and transport hydrogen is key to unlocking the UK’s hydrogen economy. This is why we are working in partnership with a leading university to design and manufacture pioneering lightweight, cost efficient and safe hydrogen storage and distribution pressure vessels.

Working in collaboration with teams within the track one clusters, our thermal mechanical engineers are experts in designing bespoke solutions for the safe storage and transportation of large volumes of hydrogen.

With a strong track record spanning over 30 years, Glacier Energy offers market-leading conventional and advanced inspection services with full rope access capabilities to support the wind industry, both on and offshore.

Our experienced and high performing team have extensive knowledge in the wind sector and have been involved in various large-scale projects over the years. Our 30+ year partnerships formed within the wind industry clearly demonstrates our deep-rooted capability and sets us apart as a technically competent partner needed for the journey to net zero.

Glacier Energy is delighted to report that our Inspection Services division has successfully upgraded their SafeContractor accreditation by achieving Gold Sustainability Certification. SafeContractor is one of the leading health and safety accreditations and has the largest in-house team of auditors within the UK. By the team achieving this certification, it demonstrates that Glacier Energy has met essential requirements around the areas of health, safety, environment, diversity, equality, wellbeing and financial stability.

Glacier Energy’s ESG strategy has been the driving force for the achievement of this accreditation and many others for the business. Glacier Energy’s ESG strategy is a top priority for the team and they are dedicated to adopting the most environmentally and socially responsible practices. As a result, on a regular basis, the ESG Committee meet to discuss possible areas of improvement and the progress that has been made in environmental, social and governance areas throughout the business.

So far, encouraging progress has been made across the business. This has involved installing the most suitable low carbon heating options in our workshops, installing LED lighting with sensors throughout our facilities and converting to fully paperless systems such as Papertrail.

Glacier Energy has also been focused on improving their CO2 footprint. Discussions are taking place with transport providers about their green credentials and the team are sourcing as many materials as possible locally. We now have an electric van with the intention of becoming fully electric. We are also researching alternative fuels to be used in our forklifts. Furthermore, from a social point of view, the business is planning to inspire and educate our workforce right from the induction stage with new net-zero training.

The recent accreditation award reflects the teams’ efforts and their dedication to ESG. With our clients at the heart of what we do, the award assures them of quality, health, safety and environmental competency. This accreditation is in addition to the existing broad portfolio of certifications & accreditations including ISO14001, 9001, 45001, and 17020 to name a few. The team are focused on continually improving our ESG credentials.