Purpose-built Machines Mobilise for Site Works Across the World

This New Year our Operations Teams in the UK and USA have hit the ground running, with full diaries of mechanical cleaning and piping inspection site works taking them through to the Summer, and our skilled workshop teams have been busily preparing our specialist Double Pumping Units (DPUs) for the task.

Cokebusters has always designed and built its own specialist equipment.  We continuously innovate and improve the tools we use to service our clients’ needs.  By internalising the manufacturing of our equipment we reduce supply chain dependency, affording more flexibility and agency over our production process.  By mid-2024, we will have 20 machines in operation across the globe and the 22nd in production.

In the Summer of 2023 Cokebusters decided to relocate two of our DPU machines, which had been operating in Chile for some years.  Our eight machine (CB8) was shipped to Houston, Texas and put to work immediately.  CB6 is an older machine which had begun its working life in India, servicing Reliance Industries where they have the largest refinery in the world, running at 1.4 million barrels/day.  This containerised machine had been damaged in a crane incident and so was shipped back to the UK for a major overhaul.  Now nearing completion, CB6 is being deployed initially to support works across Europe.

In order to respond promptly to our clients’ needs, we position our pumping units at key strategic locations including Europe, Middle East, North & South America.  Containerised machines, such as CB6, were designed to be easily transported by sea to wherever our clients need them to be.

The COVID pandemic reduced site operations workload, especially in the Middle East where travel restrictions were severe.  CB1 and CB2, our oldest machines built in 2004/05, had been operating in the region for some time and so we took the opportunity to ship both back to the UK for a major refit.  This included engines being stripped and rebuilt, new main water pumps, new valve gear and each was thoroughly refreshed with a rewire and brand new control room. Meanwhile newer machines were sent out to the Arabian Gulf area in order to go straight into service there when restrictions were lifted.  CB1 and CB2 were completed in a timely manner and sent out of our UK workshops, fit for work for the next twenty years.

Although originally designed for deployment to the USA, CB19 was despatched last year to the Middle East. Built on an American 48 ft (13.6m) trailer, this brand new road-going Double Pumping Unit is fully equipped for all eventualities.

Our new manufacturing workshop at the Cokebusters Technology Centre is nearing completion just in time to finish CB20, which is the first of a new type of DPU machine designed to make a positive impact on reduction of noise and emissions.  Also built on a low deck 44 ft road-going trailer, the sister machine, CB21, follows soon after.

We are very proud of this fleet of machines, but we know we can always improve and we are relentless in our drive to make each machine better than the last.  Client and site feedback informs future design for our equipment.  This also challenges us to solve new problems, innovating further to produce the technology needed to deliver our world class service.