FTI in ADIPEC 2022; short summary of our first exhibition and learnings from ADIPEC
Abu Dhabi International Petrochemical Exhibition or ADIPEC 2022, saw a record number of attendees exhibitors and National Oil Companies. https://www.adipec.com/ . ADIPEC is the world’s largest and most influential annual gathering of energy industry professionals and is hosted by ADNOC Abu Dhabi National Oil Company the national oil company of UAE. In addition to the business opportunities that ADIPEC offers; there is a thought leadership forum where the key theme of discussion is around critical challenges and opportunities in a collective future where energy is secure, affordable, and sustainable.
Falcon Technologies International, Ras Al Khaimah (FTI RAK), a major Industrial 3D printing company, in the region also participated as an exhibitor and with an intent to address the same through smart manufacturing initiatives. FTI’s focus is how 3D printing, specifically metal 3D printing can make energy production sustainable, greener, simpler and more efficient by manufacturing parts locally and using additive repair solutions. This article summarizes our experience in ADIPEC 2022. FTI partnered with TII (Technology Innovation Institute Abu Dhabi), BEAMIT, EOS and Titomic to showcase the capability of metal, polymer and repair solutions using additive manufacturing.
As per the UN estimates, the world population will touch 9.7 billion by 2050, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, group CEO of ADNOC and UAE minister for Industry and Advanced technology, in his speech highlighted the need to produce 30% more energy than that it is needed today. To meet the heating, cooking and electricity needs of the people, he says that, we need all the solutions that we can get. It is not an either-or solution, but that will be a mix of Oil, and gas and solar and wind and nuclear and hydrogen.
The exhibition had the following special themes to highlight the current energy industry trends
- Decarbonisation Zone
- Offshore and Marine Zone
- Digitalisation in Energy Zone
- Smart Manufacturing Zone.
FTI exhibited in smart Manufacturing Zone in Hall 12- booth no 270. The booth was a real showcase of the technical capability of entire Additive Manufacturing spectrum including Reverse Engineering, Design Capability, Metal 3D, Repair using cold spray, Metal and Polymer Additive Manufactured Parts.
Smart Manufacturing Business Opportunity in UAE
UAE’s ‘Make it in the Emirates’ campaign is an open invitation to local and international investors and innovators to engage with MoIAT (https://moiat.gov.ae/en/make-it-in-the-emirates) and to benefit from the UAE’s exceptional value proposition, including energy security, availability of raw materials, National ICV program, and advanced digital infrastructure.
“UAE’s Operation 300Bn strategy focuses on more than doubling the contribution of the industrial sector to national GDP from AED 133 billion ($36.2 billion) to 300 billion. The strategy contains several programs, including Industry 4.0, which aims to promote the adoption of advanced technology across the industrial sector to increase sustainability and productivity. (MoIAT and ADIPEC)
The UAE also recently launched the Technology Transformation Program, which aims to develop 1,000 technological projects over the next 10 years and boost exports of technological products by around AED 15 billion ($4.1bn) a year. The program will add AED 110 billion ($29.9 billion) to GDP annually and draw AED 11 billion ($2.9 billion) in investments. The programs that fall under Operation 300Bn are targeted at 11 priority sectors, which include hydrogen, advanced manufacturing, and agricultural technology, among others. Ultimately, by implementing Operation 300Bn, the UAE aims to transform into an advanced global manufacturing hub, enabled by technology and powered sustainably”. (MoIAT and ADIPEC)
Additive Manufacturing ticks all the boxes in the above strategy and will play a key role in the localization of advanced manufacturing under the Operation 300Bn strategy of UAE.
3D Printing Insights and Key take aways for FTI
Our booth attracted more than 300 key visitors in the 4 days of exhibition, the major highlight being more than 60 engineers from ADNOC interested in Additive Manufacturing. All the discussions were around the following themes.
- Digitization and making of 3D CAD model
- Local Manufacturing capability
- Qualification of parts and risk mitigation with certification
- Materials available in 3D printing
- Repair of damaged parts using Additive Manufacturing
FTI also met the key decision makers of ADNOC making the key decision and driving the adoption of 3D printing in the region. ADNOC is following an approach that ensures the technology is correctly adopted for end use. A task force for Additive Manufacturing is created and FTI is proud to get invite for participating in the same.
As a registered supplier to ADNOC for 3D services, FTI already worked with multiple entities of ADNOC and developed applications that can demonstrates the benefit of AM. The parts that have been identified were scanned to create the digital file and then optimized to meet the most critical to quality parameter. The 3D printed components are already installed and working in the field demonstrating the reliability and repeatability of the technology.
ADNOC also emphasized on the need for correctly qualifying the part for end use. The approach is required to ensure that components made through additive meets all the quality requirement as per the approved API and ASTM standards. FTI with its additive knowledge and expertise is rightly positioned to make this happen.
All the discussions happened, suggests that ADNOC is very advanced in the stage where technology adoption is already happening. FTI as a right technology partner, will play a key role in accelerating the development of technology in UAE and broader GCC.
Contact and More Discussions
Falcon Technologies International, RAK UAE, is a company focussed on Industrial 3D printing applications in Metal and polymer. For more discussion, please contact the author at manoj.pillai@falconrak.ae or fti.3d@falconrak.ae or manojsapillai@gmail.com
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