Topside Lifting System (TLS)
During the construction of the world’s biggest lifting ship ‘Pioneering Spirit’ the need arose to provide extra support for the lifting system, in order to be able to safely dismantle, install and transport large drilling platforms. Commissioned by Allseas, Holmatro supplied 280 ton cylinders.
Commissioned by: Allseas
Location: Lifting ship ‘Pioneering Spirit’
Situation
The Pioneering Spirit, owned by the Dutch-Swiss offshore company Allseas, was built for, among other things, to dismantle, install and transport complete drilling platforms. The 16 lifting beams (TLS beams) from the lifting system, lift and support the drilling platform during these operations. Depending on the size of the platform, an extra load is exerted on the inner bearing structures (Inboard Support) of the beams.
Challenge
During the construction of the world's largest lifting vessel, the “Pioneering Spirit”, the need arose to provide extra support for the lifting system, to allow safe dismantling, installation and transport of large drilling platforms.
Solution
In order to compensate for the interplay of forces, the Inboard Support of the 16 lifting beams (TLS beams) was equipped with 52 Holmatro cylinders, each with a lifting capacity of 280 tons. The cylinders, classified by Lloyd’s Register, are protected with an offshore-grade surface coating, such as a C5M paint coating on the cylinder body that make the cylinders resistant to various environmental influences. The HVOF treatment, applied to the plungers, also offers optimum resistance to wear and corrosion. High-grade composite bearings have also been included in the design, in order to prevent metal to metal contact in the cylinders, thus increasing durability. All this has resulted in extremely high-grade quality hydraulic cylinders, suitable for use in the most extreme conditions.
Besides double-acting cylinders Holmatro also supplied aluminium pulling cylinders for lifting roller boxes on the ‘Pioneering Spirit’.
Roller boxes are designed to carry the welded pipeline on the stinger and support it into the water. For this reason they have to be adjustable in different height positions, according the calculated allowable bending curve. Standard steel hydraulic cylinders turned out to be too heavy for the crew to handle, since they have to be quite often repositioned. Read more about roller box lifting…
Would you like to know more about this project? Contact us via e-mail [email protected] or call +31 (0)162 751500.