Projects
HECO Mobile Crude Oil Laboratories, Iraq
Six mobile laboratories engineered for field analysis in demanding desert conditions.
Solution: Engineered Solutions
Sector: Oil-and-Gas
Application: Laboratories; Bespoke Specialised Containers
Project Overview
Client:
HECO
End user:
South Oil Company, Iraq
Sector:
Oil and Gas
Solution:
Engineered Solutions
Application:
Laboratories; Bespoke Containers
Modules:
4
Value:
£1.04m
Programme:
44 weeks
Scope:
Design and manufacture of six mobile crude-oil laboratories for international export
Objectives
Mobile laboratories | Crude oil testing | Oil & gas | Desert environment | Specialist equipment integration | International export
Taking laboratory capability into an oilfield environment presents a very different engineering challenge to creating a conventional laboratory.
The brief required six specialist mobile laboratories for export and operation in desert conditions, allowing field teams to analyse crude oil samples directly from oil wells, assess water produced with oil and undertake specialist analysis of crude oil and dissolved gas.
Thurston Group was appointed to design and manufacture the six units, creating self-contained technical environments that combined laboratory workspace, office accommodation, chemical storage and specialist sample-handling equipment.
The solution also had to accommodate laboratory equipment installed by HECO's specialist contractors, provide facilities for end-user training during manufacture and meet a fixed international shipping programme.
The result was a series of mobile laboratories engineered around the complete operational requirement - from sample collection and analysis through to equipment integration, training and export.
The Challenge
The brief was highly specialised.
These were not simply portable rooms fitted with laboratory benches. The units needed to support field analysis of crude oil and associated samples in remote desert environments, bringing laboratory functionality much closer to the point of extraction.
Each mobile laboratory therefore needed to accommodate several distinct activities within a restricted footprint.
Three separate and isolated rooms were required: a laboratory workspace containing benches and lockers for instruments and devices, a dedicated office, and secure storage for chemicals and laboratory glassware.
There was also a practical sample-handling challenge.
Operators needed to collect samples from ground level and transfer them into the laboratory without contamination. The equipment required to do this needed to be available when required without permanently occupying valuable internal space.
Alongside the physical design, Thurston had to coordinate installation of specialist laboratory equipment by HECO's contractors and accommodate end-user training at our Production facility - all against fixed shipment dates tied to the client's Letter of Credit.
This was a project where the building, equipment, workflow and programme all had to work together.
The Solution
Thurston engineered six mobile laboratory units around the way the end users would actually operate them in the field.
Each unit was divided into three purpose-specific spaces: laboratory workspace, office accommodation and chemical and glassware storage. This separation enabled different functions to sit within the same transportable solution while maintaining clearly defined working areas.
A bespoke lifting beam and platform system was also integrated into each unit. This allowed operators to lift samples from ground level onto the laboratory platform for analysis while reducing the risk of contamination. Crucially, Thurston designed the assembly so it could be stored inside the building when not in use, taking up minimal internal space.
That detail captures the engineering challenge well: not simply providing a container, but understanding the operating process and designing the physical solution around it.
Integration was equally important inside the laboratories. Specialist laboratory equipment was installed at Thurston's facility by contractors appointed by HECO. Thurston coordinated its own trades with those specialist installers so that fit-out could progress efficiently and the units remained on programme for overseas shipment.
Engineering around the end user
The project went beyond manufacturing the physical units.
End users travelled to Thurston's factory for training in two-week blocks during the manufacturing programme, allowing equipment familiarisation and training to take place before the laboratories were deployed overseas.
HECO's own account of the project also describes the completed package as a turnkey mobile laboratory solution incorporating laboratory equipment, specialist instruments, consumables and chemicals alongside installation, calibration, testing and training.
For Thurston, that meant the manufactured environment needed to work seamlessly with a wider technical system supplied by multiple parties.
The result
All six mobile laboratories were successfully completed and delivered for overseas use, meeting the shipment programme despite the fixed commercial deadlines attached to the project.
HECO's own project archive identifies the destination as Iraq and the application as crude oil testing for South Oil Company, describing the units as field-ready mobile laboratories designed for demanding operating conditions.
The project demonstrates how Thurston's manufacturing capability can be applied far beyond conventional occupied buildings.
These were engineered technical environments: designed around specialist equipment, sample workflows, storage, operator needs, transportation and the climate in which they would ultimately operate.
What this demonstrates
Specialist laboratory environments
Six self-contained mobile laboratories were designed around crude-oil field analysis and the requirements of specialist laboratory equipment.
Engineering around operational workflow
The layout separated analysis, office and chemical-storage functions, while the bespoke lifting system was designed around how samples would physically enter the laboratory.
Equipment integration
Thurston coordinated the building fit-out around specialist laboratory equipment installed at the Horbury factory by third-party contractors.
Designing within a constrained footprint
The sample lifting beam and platform could be stored internally when not required, protecting valuable working space inside each mobile unit.
International engineered solutions
The laboratories were manufactured in the UK for export and operation in demanding desert conditions.
End-user collaboration
Training was incorporated into the manufacturing programme, with operators attending Thurston's facility before deployment.
Programme certainty
Manufacturing, equipment fit-out and training were coordinated around fixed export dates linked to the client's Letter of Credit.
Engineered for the challenge
Rather than starting with a standard product, Thurston started with the process - what needed to happen inside the laboratory, where it would operate and how people and equipment needed to interact - and engineered the solution around it
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