Page 69: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (May/Jun 2015)

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would be covered and the load could

EPIC never come back too quickly on the load cell position. The 64, 536-tonne capac- ity, cylinders (one each per load cell) are sited next to the load cells. Due to the limited space, a lifting yoke was created by EIVA SAFEX AS to put the cylinders in place. They also produced a sea- fastening system to secure the cylinders underneath the load. For each column, one complete control set (powerpack, control panel and hoses) is kept in the column storage cabins. Each column has its own hydraulic system and a 50-kilo pump unit, so neither have to be moved between columns.

The result is that the load cell calibration work has gone from 32 lifts to eight lifts with no more equipment handling between

Above: Complete system test set for the platform’s columns. For Holmatro, it factory acceptance test. Right: Two 536- was an ideal job. While the company has tonne capacity hydraulic cylinders, each about 170 standard cylinders available for weighing 400 kilos.

Photos from from Holmatro.

the offshore sector and other industries, it in the confned spaces — and due to the client’s situation and participate fully in also specializes in bespoke solutions. “The nice part of this project is that it’s the thinking process to achieve the right location of the 32 sets of loads cells.

an industrial solution,” Loonen says. “We solution for their usage requirements. We

Solution always try to help a client get the right solu- like to be challenged to come up with new

Six years passed before a solution was tions. In collaboration with our research innovative industrial solutions.” found, but, the new solution now means and development, production and service *OTC Brazil, 2013, paper OTC-24512-MS by Rajiv Aggarwal and Richard Souza, Granherne. the cylinders no longer need to be moved departments, we place ourselves in our between the columns, with each column having dedicated cylinders, which only have to be placed once within the column to test all of the 16 load cells it contains.

Specialist high pressure cylinder pro- ducer Holmatro, founded in 1967 in the

Netherlands, was brought into the project in 2014 via its distributor EIVA-SAFEX

AS. After discussions concerning the tender documentation and the solution, the frm submitted its bid and was one of two frms in the fnal running for the project, says Rob

Loonen, sales engineer for indus- trial equipment for Dutch-based international hydraulic equip- ment supplier, Holmatro, which

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“The initial idea was to use single- acting cylinders,” Loonen says, “but after 800.962.9696 • wosupply.com studying the exact application, we sug- gested a different system confguration.”

Holmatro proposed using double-acting cylinders with a tilting saddle in com-

Pipe | Valves | Fittings | Piping Systems | Engineered Solutions bination with a special lowering control panel, so potential operation errors oedigital.com May 2015 | OE 71 070_OE0515_Epic2_Snorre.indd 71 4/20/15 3:56 PM