Page 54: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2017)

While lifting a 48,000-ton platform in the open ocean is not an easy task, Bosch Rexroth compo-

Pioneering Spirit nents and control systems on board the Pioneering

Spirit helped to command and control.

TECH FILE: HEAVY LIFT

Drive & Control Challenges

Photo: Bosch Rexroth

When the opportunity to provide the the engineering task of investigating the for the individual beams.” and subsystems were developed speci? - hydraulic components and associated technical design for a new lifting system. While it used to take ships with cranes cally for this ship. This includes cylin- local controls for the lifting system on Working closely with the Allseas engi- and dozens of workers weeks or months ders, control devices, generators, mount- board the innovative Allseas’ Pioneering neers, who developed the unique form to construct or dismantle a platform piece ing plates, etc. The local digital control

Spirit Bosch Rexroth proved ready for and functionality of the ship and the by piece on the open ocean, Pioneer- systems that we supplied for the lifting the task. principle of the lifting beams for the ‘top- ing Spirit, at 1253 x 407 ft. (382 x 124 beams were also developed speci? cally

The request came from Allseas founder sides lift system,’ our engineering team m), can lift the top section of a platform for this assignment. and owner Edward Heerema. A specially investigated various technical control off its piles in 9 seconds. The motion That applies to both the control hard- designed ship to lift entire offshore plat- options for the individual lifting beams. compensation system is activated dur- ware and the software. During the de- forms off their piles in a single move- They looked at many different varia- ing preparations to pick up a platform. sign process, we made intensive use of ment, for which Allseas had developed tions: hydraulic, electrical, and hybrid It consists of 16 lifting beams operated powerful simulation tools to predict sys- in-house a complete motion compensa- combinations of both technologies. The from the bridge of Pioneering Spirit. Us- tem behavior, ? nite element methods to tion system and associated control sys- hydromechanics and electro mechanics ing the lifting beams, a platform is raised compute critical parts and components tem. Allseas also wrote the software for were a challenge, but so was the digi- 2.5m in a single swift movement so that for strength, and analysis techniques to the principle behind the motion system, tal technology (controls, software, bus the topsides of the platform becomes de- identify risks in the process ? ow. But it’s and Bosch Rexroth was asked to further systems, etc.). Allseas wanted the ship tached from the substructure. Then the always exciting when the ? rst job gets develop the design of the hydraulics and to be able to handle platforms weighing ship moves away, and the topsides is car- underway. That took place last August, the arrangement of speci? c components up to 48,000 tons. That’s no easy task. ried towards the shore. and involved lifting the 13,500-ton top of these lifting beams, and to supply spe- Especially when you realize not only The technology applied in this situ- section of the Yme platform, off the cialist hydraulic components and drive how accurately but also how fast it has ation by Allseas, also known as swell Norwegian coast. Everything worked systems. to happen. During the development pro- compensation, is exceptionally complex perfectly. Since then, the remaining four “We had already worked closely with cess countless tests were carried out and due in part to the simultaneous move- lifting beams (including Bosch Rexroth the Allseas engineers in Delft in the past, simulations performed so that, together ments of the lifting beams along multiple components) have been installed on the on other projects,” said Ron van den with the engineers at Allseas, we could axes. ship for larger lifting jobs. It’s great that

Oetelaar, Managing Director of Bosch ? nd the optimal solution. When after a “Standard components can rarely be our designers, production staff, service

Rexroth Benelux. “So we had already couple of years’ development we had got used for special projects of this size,” engineers and other technicians have supplied all sorts of components for spe- it right ‘on paper’, we were given the said Van den Oetelaar. “Apart from a few been able to make such an important cial ships laying pipelines in the ocean. job of manufacturing and supplying the catalog components, such as valves and contribution.” www.boschrexroth.com

We were honored when Allseas gave us hydraulic components and drive systems plunger pumps, most of the components 54 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • APRIL 2017

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