According to media reports on August 21st， China’s first intelligent coating production line for marine oil and gas equipment has officially commenced operations at the Zhuhai Deepwater Equipment Manufacturing Base， managed by CNOOC Engineering. The establishment and deployment of this production line are of significant importance， accelerating the intelligent transformation of marine oil and gas equipment manufacturing and fostering new productive forces within the marine sector.
Coating is a critical process in the manufacturing of marine oil and gas equipment. By applying anti-corrosion coating systems， the equipment’s structure is effectively protected against seawater corrosion， salt spray erosion， and marine biological attachment. This significantly extends the operational lifespan of the equipment and reduces maintenance costs. The visual representation accompanying this report likely showcases the advanced capabilities of this new automated system.
Qu Huajing， manager of the coating scaffolding operations department at CNOOC Engineering’s Zhuhai base， explained that the newly operational intelligent coating production line has been specifically optimized for ultra-large tower structures. It comprises four key components: roller stands， exterior wall spraying robots， interior wall spraying robots， and an AGV intelligent tracked transfer vehicle. The entire production line supports intelligent control， enabling precise point-to-point spraying， autonomous programming， and automatic obstacle avoidance. It can also customize coating systems based on specific requirements， achieving an overall work efficiency improvement of 4 to 8 times compared to traditional manual operations. This leap in efficiency is a testament to the successful integration of robotics and automation in a historically labor-intensive industry.
In the marine equipment manufacturing sector， traditional manual and mechanical spraying methods commonly face challenges such as inconsistent paint film thickness， low operational efficiency， and high energy consumption. For instance， in the Inch Cape European wind turbine foundation project， due to limitations in tower size， internal spraying operations encountered blind spots of approximately 2500 millimeters at the front and rear that robots could not reach. Previously， manual completion of these areas took at least 30 minutes and often resulted in uneven paint surfaces and missed spots， highlighting a significant bottleneck in quality and productivity.
To address this industry pain point， CNOOC Engineering collaborated with leading domestic equipment manufacturers to overcome technical hurdles. They successfully implemented over ten new technologies and independently developed the AGV intelligent tracked transfer vehicle. This innovative equipment， equipped with spraying robots， achieves full coverage automated operation for the interior walls of tower structures， reducing spraying time from hours to a mere 5 minutes. Furthermore， the entire production line features a highly integrated air supply and power system design with fully enclosed protection， enabling robots to operate continuously at full load for 24 hours. This continuous operation capability drastically boosts throughput and maintains consistent quality.
Looking ahead， CNOOC Engineering plans to further integrate AI autonomous learning algorithms to dynamically optimize spraying paths and film thickness control， enabling adaptive spraying for complex curved surfaces. This continuous improvement will further enhance construction precision and material utilization efficiency， setting a new industry paradigm for the customized and intelligent production of marine oil and gas equipment.
