PROJECTS

THORDON’S NEW ZEALAND PROJECT

PROJECTS

New Zealand’s Genesis Energy has completed a first phase refurbishment of the 190 MW hydro power plant at Lake Tekapo, in the South Island. A vertical Kaplan turbine at the Tekapo A generating station will be inspected following the replacement of a competitor’s upper, intermediate and lower wicket gate bearings with new lip seals, operating ring wear pads and wicket gate blade sealing strips with Thordon Bearings’ products.

Through its Auckland-based distributor Henley Group, Thordon supplied ThorPlas-Blue wicket gate bushes, Thorseal lip seals (which replaced nitrile rubber sealing rings in the lower and intermediate wicket gate bearings), and SXL operating ring wear pads. A new SXL turbine guide bearing, upgraded with better tolerances, was designed, supplied and installed. The shaft seal carbon segments were also replaced with SXL segments.

Genesis Energy operates eight hydro power stations across New Zealand’s North and South Islands. Its Tekapo A Power Station has been using a Thordon water lubricated SXL turbine guide bearing since 2003.

Leny Samuel, Technical Sales, Henley Group said, “We are delighted to have been involved with another Genesis project. The ThorPlas-Blue bearings selected for the Tekapo A unit are a great option for upgrading regulating mechanism in the Kaplan turbine.”

Traditional rubber dovetail guide vane sealing strips were separating from their seats due to forces encountered during the motion of the guide vane over the final portion of closure. Henley Group was approached to evaluate if Thordon products could be a potential solution. Greg Auger, Thordon’s Global Strategic Account Manager – Hydro Power, added, “We have been investigating the use of our softer Thor-Flex material grades to prevent this particular problem from occurring for several other customers as well. The wearing out and mechanical damage of rubber sealing strips is a recurring issue for plant operators as the rubber ages and becomes brittle. We had a solution more or less ready to go.”

The solution for Tekapo A was to fit 22 mm (0.86 in) wide x 10 mm (0.39 in) high x 1700 mm (66.9 in) long Thor-Flex strips, manufactured from Thordon’s proprietary polymer material, Thor-Flex, between the vane’s metal rings.

“The Thor-Flex product is significantly more durable than rubber in most sealing applications, with excellent toughness resisting damage during installation and operation. For this application we selected a relatively low durometer (hardness) of 83 Shore A and produced a custom mould to allow us to produce the strips to the most precise

The full scope of Thordon supply for the turbine at Tekapo A generating station.

finished dimensions. Thor-Flex can provide a more flexible sealing element if there are large gaps and variations to be sealed between metal components. Traditional rubber grades will harden over time and have limited load bearing capacity compared to Thor-Flex,” said Auger.

While Thor-Flex itself has been used in many industrial applications, this was a new application to solve a tough problem for the customer. Thordon will officially offer the Thor-Flex blade sealing strips once their performance has been evaluated during plant outage inspections in November 2020.

Construction of Tekapo A began in 1938 but was halted between 1942 and 1944 as labour France’s GTT announces that its subsidiary GTT North America has been awarded a contract by the US Department of Defense for the Red Hill and materials were diverted to World War II. The station was finally commissioned in 1951. Tekapo A Power Station generates electricity from water diverted from Lake Tekapo via a 1.4 kms intake tunnel.

In 1970, a 25.5 kms (15.8 miles) canal was constructed to take outflows from Tekapo A to Tekapo B. The Tekapo Canal has a maximum capacity of 130 m3 (4591 ft3)/second. Water in Lake Tekapo can bypass Tekapo A Power Station via water releases through the Lake Tekapo Control Structure (State Highway 8 Bridge at Tekapo). When the control gates are open water passes to the canal, down the upper Tekapo River

GTT SIGNS A CONTRACT WITH THE US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

via Lake George Scott. Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Red Hill is a military fuel storage facility located near Honolulu, Hawaii, featuring 20 steel-lined underground storage

The US Navy base at Pearl Harbour

tanks with a total capacity up to 946m litres (250m gallons) connected to fuelling piers at Pearl Harbour.

Under the agreement, GTT will work with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the US Navy to develop a solution to upgrade the existing tanks to double wall containment. GTT engineers will use the company’s expertise in advanced tank containment system technologies, acquired over the past 60 years in the shipping and land storage of LNG under cryogenic conditions, to design a continuously monitored membrane barrier system that will extend the useful life of the tanks, originally built in the 1940’s.

This Award comes to GTT after a competitive source selection strategy launched last spring by DIU, known as Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO). This rigorous process falls under the Other Transaction (OT) authority, and is aimed at facilitating innovative technologies IMPORTED TO SUPPORT MINE CONSTRUCTION Local freight logistics specialists have been called in to import 1kms of tunnel segments for Anglo American’s Woodsmith Project on the North Yorkshire Moors. The team at AV Dawson’s Port of Middlesbrough worked with global logistics experts FH Bertling on this complex logistics challenge.

The Woodsmith Project, which was recently taken over by Anglo American, has been manufacturing tunnel segments in a purpose built plant at Wilton International in Redcar to build the 35 kms tunnel that will carry the mineral product from the Mine to the River Tees for export. The rapid pace of construction has meant that segments have been required faster than they could be produced at the Wilton plant and from the commercial sector that directly fulfil requirements, close capability gaps, or provide potential technological advances to support the mission of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and CEO of GTT, said, “We are proud and honoured to have been retained by the US Department of Defense to assist them in extending the longevity of the Red Hill facility, recognised as both a Civil Engineering Landmark and a strategic asset to US Navy operations in the Pacific. This contract is in line with our large capacity energy storage activities and clearly demonstrates our commitment to innovation beyond our traditional cryogenic business. Our goal is to contribute our technological and innovation capabilities to the sustainable preservation of Hawaii’s groundwater resources. This is perfectly consistent with our new baseline - ‘Technology for a Sustainable

TUNNEL SEGMENTS

World’.”

so additional supply has been imported.

Andy Raine, deputy project director of Strabag said, “We calculated that we needed to import an extra 3,000 precast concrete segments to keep up with the rate the tunnel boring machine was building the tunnel. Importing these was a particularly complex logistical challenge not only due to the sheer number of segments required but also the weight of each segment.

“We knew we needed the specialist support that FH Bertling and AV Dawson could provide, so this project could be assessed from end-toend and all creative solutions could be put on the table. AV Dawson’s Port of Middlesbrough was the ideal port to import the cargo through, due to its location and AV Dawson’s specialist expertise in handling complex cargos.”

After a number of months of planning, the project team concluded that the most effective solution would be to transport the segments as a breakbulk cargo, with each stack individually lashed and secured to the floor of the vessel. These stacks were then unloaded at Port of Middlesbrough with onward transport to the construction site provided by AV Dawson’s road transport team.

Gary Dawson, managing director of AV Dawson said, “Like many people in Teesside, we recognise that Woodsmith Project is a major opportunity for the local area and have therefore made ourselves available to support the teams behind the project since the start. Building the relationship early on has been really beneficial for all parties. Many businesses involve the logistics supply chain very late in the day and often this will result in missed opportunities to ensure the logistics is designed to be as efficient as possible.

“This particular element of the project has been in planning for around 12 months. We have worked in partnership with FH Bertling and Strabag to thoroughly assess a number of solutions for importing these reinforced concrete segments and transporting them over to site, and between us have developed a cost effective solution that protects the quality of the product. After a long planning process, it was fantastic to see the first of these four ships arrive and this part of the project become a reality.”

Paul Snowdon, Bertling UK added, “Bertling Logistics was awarded the project to deliver concrete segments from Sassnitz in Germany to the Anglo American Potash site in Wilton. Our Hamburg office time-chartered a coaster vessel over four round trips to deliver all the cargo safely. We selected AV Dawson’s Port of Middlesbrough as the discharge point as the team there demonstrated a real appetite to work with us, as well as providing a strategic location and flexibility to ensure high quality standards were maintained throughout the project cycle. Bertling Middlesbrough’s Heavy Logistics & Engineering office surveyed the discharge of all concrete sections maintaining HSE principles were observed throughout. AV Dawson then handled all concrete stacks on the quay and loaded eight trailers per day to Anglo American at Wilton without incident. We worked within the time parameters and delivered a successful project together again, just as we did when we delivered the tunnel boring machine from Germany last year.”

MHI-MME TO SUPPLY A TURBINE FOR COLD POWER GENERATION

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Equipment (MHI-MME) will deliver a turbine for use with the prototype of the Cryo-Powered Regas, a LNG cold energy use regasification system currently under joint development by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).

The Cryo-Powered Regas is a new initiative that aims to reduce the environmental impact of Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) by utilising LNG cold energy – which up to now has been dumped into the ocean – for power generation. The new technology is expected to significantly reduce the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of FSRUs during regasification.

As part of development, verification tests

are scheduled to take place at a small, landbased facility. In addition to supplying a power generating turbine to the facility, MHI-MME is also providing technical support toward the future installation of the turbine on ships. This will be MHI-MME’s first marine turbine for cryogenic power generation, and we will be developing a cutting-edge design while also leveraging the MHI Group’s existing technology and expertise in land-based products.

MHI-MME has long been providing support for energy saving on ships, with a focus on waste heat recovery systems (WHRS) for large commercial vessels. With the sharp increase in the use of LNG by the maritime industry, MHI-MME sees the cold energy arising from LNG use as a promising, recoverable energy. The company is proactively engaged in this effort with the view that it can contribute to the achievement of a low-carbon society by expanding the range of its energy-saving solutions.

INMARSAT FLEET XPRESS BREAKTHROUGH ON PARANÁ RIVER Inmarsat has equipped four Paraná River push boats operated by Impala Paraguay with Fleet Xpress connectivity, in a breakthrough for maritime broadband inland along one of South America’s longest waterways. The prime mover vessels are used by Impala Paraguay to steer its fleet of 30 double-hulled barges along the waterway system to move gas oil, jet fuel, gasoline and naphtha products from Argentina onward to Paraguay and Bolivia, exporting soya bean oil in the other direction. Long sections of the transit take place outside the reach of 4G or GSM cellular networks.

To date, continuous push boat connectivity has been sustained using Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband service, which guarantees connectivity for the

modern navigation systems and night operation equipment, as well as the load sensors and GPS position monitoring installed on barges. On average, each push boat consumes around 500GB of data/month for vessel management and crew connectivity.

However, the unlimited bandwidth available from Fleet Xpress has proved necessary to support IP (internet protocol) camera surveillance to ensure the safety of crew and the cargo transported by Impala. As part of a three-year Fleet Xpress contract, each push boat is installed with 20 IP cameras connected via on-board antennas, enabling continuous monitoring from Impala Paraguay offices. “We are invested in providing the best service possible to our clients and ensuring that we have state-of-the-art technology supporting every aspect of our operations,” said a spokesperson from Impala Paraguay. “We believe using IP surveillance in our pushers sends a clear message to our clients that we will take all measures necessary to ensure that our operations are done

Real time video surveillance via Fleet Xpress is keeping cargoes and crews secure along the Paraná River

in an efficient, reliable, and responsible manner,”

the spokesperson concluded.

Following installation works undertaken in Asunción, Paraguay, Inmarsat’s Sales Director for Offshore and Fishing, Chuck Moseley said, “The choice of Fleet Xpress represented an inland breakthrough for the hybrid combination of highspeed Ka-band plus continuous back-up over FleetBroadband’s L-band.

“Fleet Xpress is already powering the maritime data revolution, but recent months have also seen ship owners accelerate uptake of video-based Wärtsilä has been awarded a major contract to supply and construct a plant for production of applications to enhance collaborative working, security, telemedicine and crew connectivity. The Paraná River is an artery for economic development, carrying around 80% of Paraguay’s trade. This order demonstrates that guaranteed global bandwidth via Fleet Xpress brings comparable gains inland to those already being achieved at sea. Committed data rates backed-up by service level agreements also guarantee that Fleet Xpress customers always get what they pay

WÄRTSILÄ TO SUPPLY A MAJOR LNG/ BIOLNG PRODUCTION PLANT

for.” CO2-neutral liquid transport fuels. The plant will

Real time video surveillance via Fleet Xpress is keeping cargoes and crews secure along the Paraná River

liquefy gas from the natural gas grid to produce carbon-neutral LNG. It will have a capacity of approximately 100,000 tonnes/year and located in Cologne, Germany. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in September 2020. Wärtsilä’s vast experience and state-of-the-art technologies developed for the process design, fabrication, and delivery of gas liquefaction plants and mature gas treatment solutions prior to liquefaction, were key factors to secure the contract.

“It is an honour to have been awarded this order for a landmark project. We take this as a clear endorsement of Wärtsilä’s capabilities in this field. The use of LNG as an emissions-reducing fuel in the marine and transportation industries is already well established, and to introduce bioLNG which can be mixed with LNG is the next obvious step in enabling a CO2-neutral transportation fuel. We look forward to continuing on our mission to enable sustainable societies with smart technology,” said Antti Kuokkanen, VP Gas Solutions.

The feedstock for bioLNG is based on biological waste material e.g. liquid manure and food waste. The feedstock is fed to an anaerobic digestion reactor that produces biogas, which is then upgraded to biomethane and injected into the natural gas grid. Green gas certificates are issued along with the injected biomethane, which then

permits operators at other locations, such as liquefaction plants producing bioLNG, to buy the certificates and utilise the biomethane.

The Wärtsilä scope for this project includes the engineering, the civil works, installation, and commissioning of the plant. The plant will include a gas treatment system based on Wärtsilä’s Puregas CA technology, a liquefaction unit utilising Wärtsilä’s Semi-Dual Brayton technology, storage tanks, truck filling stations, and all necessary safety flare and auxiliary equipment. The plant is expected to be fully operational by autumn 2022.

Gas Solutions is a market leader with innovative systems and lifecycle solutions for the gas value chain. Our main focus areas are handling of gas in seaborne transport (storage, fuel, transfer and BOG management), gas to power, liquefaction and biogas solutions. We help our customers on the journey towards a sustainable future through focus on lifecycle, innovation and digitalisation.

WÄRTSILÄ VOYAGE CLOUD-BASED SIMULATORS SELECTED BY MMA

Wärtsilä Voyage will supply two of its advanced cloud-based simulation solutions to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) in the US under a one-year agreement. This will allow cadets at the Academy to continue receiving safe and effective navigational training, despite restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement was signed in September 2020 and was the first application of Wärtsilä’s cloud simulation technology in the US.

By adding cloud simulation, MMA can maintain

total class volume but offer the same instruction either in the physical classroom or online, by shifting to a blended method of delivery as needed. The online simulator utilises the same content as deployed in the on-campus classroom, allowing for quick implementation, while providing the flexibility needed to help in overcoming scheduling challenges. The cloud infrastructure also provides a ready-to-go solution as part of contingency planning in case of heightened restrictions being necessitated in the future.

“Wärtsilä’s cloud simulation solution solves our immediate needs to offer expanded online Rolls-Royce has announced a $13.9m investment in its Power Systems business unit for the addition of a new research and development building and multi-phase expansion of its MTU power generation manufacturing facility in Mankato, Minnesota, USA. The project is a result of growth in the market – 2019 was a record year for the Mankato facility – and demand for increased product offerings resulting in the need for updated facilities, equipment and processes to safely handle customer requirements. It is also content due to COVID-19. It also gives us a longterm platform for simulation in blended learning that will allow MMA to continue leading the industry with innovative technologies for our students,” commented John Belle, Associate Professor at the Academy.

“Remote learning is a growing trend that is especially valuable in times like these, and it is important that the training of future maritime officers can continue with or without classroom attendance. The approved courses can carry on just as before, the only difference being the delivery method. This is a prime example of Wärtsilä’s success in developing smart technologies that enhance the efficiency and safety of maritime operations,” said Neil Bennett, Director of Global Simulation Sales, Wärtsilä Voyage. The Wärtsilä scope under this agreement includes the company’s Navi-Trainer Professional Marine Navigation Cloud Simulation software, two classrooms and TADS navigational charts.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy is a fully accredited, four year, co-educational state university offering Bachelor and Master of Science degrees for maritime cadets. The Academy is an established customer of Wärtsilä Voyage and utilises a number of the company’s simulator

ROLLS-ROYCE EXPANDS MTU POWER GENERATION FOOTPRINT IN MANKATO

solutions in its training program. part of the ongoing journey of Power Systems towards the development of sustainable solutions.

The main portion of the Mankato expansion will be the addition of 2,601 m2 (28,000 ft2) to the facility’s existing assembly hall, allowing for additional assembly lines, enhanced product testing capabilities and the creation of 20 new manufacturing positions. By expanding one of the existing assembly lines to accommodate the production of high-power MTU gas generator

sets, capacity at the plant is expected to increase by an estimated 25%. This will mark the first time these gas generator sets have been produced in the US.

“Our MTU plant in Mankato has played a decisive role in our encouraging growth in the Americas. We intend to continue on this successful course by working hard to emerge from the crisis stronger than before. More consistently than before, we are pursuing our strategy of evolving from an engine manufacturer to a provider of sustainable solutions,” said Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems. “This investment in our Mankato plant will help us to meet the growing demand for energy in the Americas with locally manufactured products. Mankato will thus become an even more important part of our world-wide production network in the future,” Schell continued.

“Rolls-Royce has made significant investments in the gas systems business in terms of both products and people,” said Carsten Schrick, Director for Gas Sales in the Americas. “We have seen an uptick in gas systems projects as a result and we expect that trend to continue, especially as our MTU systems can increasingly run on a variety of gases and offer fuel flexibility. When these systems are available from our plant in Mankato, we will be able to deliver them with shorter lead times to our customers in the Americas, which will be a great benefit for our customers.”

A final benefit of the expansion project is that it will allow for improved logistics services and safety enhancements to the site. With the added space, logistics will be separated from assembly operations, and oversized doors will be added to better facilitate lifting and rigging operations. The traffic routes and parking for the site will also be modified to separate truck traffic from employee parking.

Along with the facility expansion, the overall project investment includes the addition of a new research and development building, upgraded production test cells and the remodeling of the facility’s front office administration area. The new R&D centre, which will be fully operational this month, will include a dedicated test cell to meet customer-testing requirements for products going into data centre applications. The three production test cells in the main facility will be upgraded to meet these same criteria for testing production units. The front office renovation was completed in December 2019 and included the addition of 21 new workstations.

The first phase of the assembly hall expansion is set to be complete in February 2021, with the final phase targeted for completion in September 2021.

WINN & COALES (DENSO) LAUNCH NEW WEBSITE

Winn & Coales (Denso) specialist manufacturers of corrosion prevention and sealing products, recently announced the launch of their newly updated website – Denso.net – with new product pages, a new Surface Preparation Guide and many more exciting new features.

Denso.net is the perfect platform to showcase Winn & Coales (Denso)’s extensive range of corrosion prevention products. The new ‘Product Finder’ features bespoke and off the shelf solutions, that provide enduring protection against corrosion and chemical attack to buried and exposed pipes, valves, fittings, steelwork, marine structures, tanks and concrete bunded areas.

Each product has its own dedicated page, featuring product details, Technical Data Sheets, Application Instructions and Sales Literature. Users can request Safety Data Sheets by using a shopping cart ordering system on each product page. The Surface Preparation Guide is a brand new area on the website, which outlines the recommended surface preparation methods for Denso products.

The newly launched website also features an updated UK Distributor Zone, a dedicated ‘Latest News’ section, and a new, interactive contact page. For more than 90 years, Winn & Coales (Denso) Ltd have been providing industries with long-term corrosion prevention solutions, whatever their requirements. The new website offers customers a pleasant user experience and an intuitive way to easily find what they’re looking for. For any product queries or quote requests, visitors to the website are only a couple of clicks away from contacting a member of the expert sales team.

During early October 2020, the board of Directors of Winn & Coales International Ltd were delighted to announce that Chris Winn, the DEME has joined the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, supporting the EU’s ambitious hydrogen and decarbonisation strategy. With this membership DEME underlines its commitment to use its expertise for the production, transport and storage of green hydrogen from renewable energy sources.

During July 2020, the European Commission announced the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the launch of the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance. By establishing the Alliance, the EU aims to strengthen its global leadership position in the rapidly developing hydrogen domain, which will in turn help it to realise its carbon neutrality goals by 2050.

The European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, which great grandson of the founder of the company has succeeded his father, David Winn OBE, as the Chairman of the Group. Chris Winn becomes the fourth Chairman of the Company since it was founded in 1883. He has extensive and broad experience within the Group and holds the position of Managing Director of Winn & Coales (Denso) Ltd and Executive Director of Winn & Coales International Ltd.

Dr Keith Erskine, the grandson of the second of the two company founders, Frank B. Coales, has assumed the role of Deputy Chairman of the Group. Dr Keith Erskine brings a wealth of knowledge from his professional career to the role and holds the position of Non-Executive Director of Winn & Coales International Ltd.

Meanwhile Winn & Coales also announced the passing of David Winn OBE. David Winn, the grandson of founder Paul Winn, joined the company 55 years ago in 1965. He had a long and distinguished career at Winn & Coales, serving as Deputy Chairman from 1968-1991 and Managing Director from 1988-1995. When Frank Coales passed away in 1991, he became Chairman of the

EU EMISSION TRADING SYSTEM WILL INHIBIT GLOBAL CO 2 REDUCTIONS

company and held this position for 29 years. brings together more than 200 industry, national and local public authorities, civil society and other stakeholders, aims to initiate an investment agenda and support the scaling up of the hydrogen value chain across Europe.

Luc Vandenbulcke, CEO DEME Group, comments, “As a pioneer in the development, construction and financing of offshore wind farms, we want to make full use of our longstanding expertise for the production, transport and storage of green hydrogen from renewable energy sources. We look forward to bringing our knowledge and experience to the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance and actively supporting the EU in its drive to see Europe become the first climate neutral continent by 2050. This initiative also fits

perfectly with our own sustainability goals.”

DEME has already recognised the vast potential of this sector and has entered into several green hydrogen partnerships internationally to ensure the company is at the forefront of developments. In November 2019 DEME signed a co-operation agreement with six other leading industry players in Belgium for the transport of green hydrogen, and this year, also entered into exclusive partnerships to develop industrial scale green hydrogen plants in Belgium (Hyport Ostend) and in Oman (Hyport Duqm).

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, DEME joined forces with Neptune Energy for the PosHYdon offshore hydrogen pilot, where the company will be involved in the conceptual design of a 100 MW offshore hydrogen production plant. “The combination of renewable energy with green hydrogen and the exciting potential it represents is fully in line with DEME’s innovation vision, which includes plans to invest in the development and large-scale production, storage and delivery of green hydrogen,” Luc Vandenbulcke emphasises.

MPA-ABS MOU TO ADVANCE R&D ACTIVITIES IN MARITIME SINGAPORE

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ABS to renew its partnership in maritime research, development and innovation. The signing was witnessed by Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport and Foreign Affairs, at the Singapore Maritime Institute’s SMI Forum 2020 themed ‘Future of Port and Shipping’.

Under this agreement, MPA and ABS will collaborate on projects relating to

DEME has joined the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance

decarbonisation, AI-driven decision support tools, predictive maintenance, cybersecurity and other cutting-edge technologies critical to the port and ship of the future. Both parties will also work together to develop the next-generation maritime workforce in Singapore, by rolling out relevant industry attachments and training programmes, as well as studying the impact of new technologies on the workforce and efficiency of augmented/virtual reality tools when used in training environments.

Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of MPA, said, “For Maritime Singapore to thrive, we must continue to maintain a vibrant ecosystem where companies see value to base its activities. I am glad ABS views Singapore as a strategic hub to entrench its maritime R&D capabilities in the region. This MOU strengthens our partnership with ABS, who has a long-standing presence in Singapore. I look forward to both organisations contributing towards Singapore’s growth as a leading international maritime centre through knowledge creation and technology applications”.

The Port of Singapore

Christopher Wiernicki, Chairman, President & CEO, ABS, added, “Singapore has been a key location for ABS for more than 60 years and this agreement represents the next phase of our hugely successful collaboration. The shipping and offshore industries face significant challenges in the coming years. Together, ABS and the MPA are going to make a critical contribution to meeting these challenges and shaping the maritime industry of the future.” BOSKALIS TAKES SOLAR PANELS INTO USE In recent months Boskalis has installed more than 5,350 solar panels on the roof of its distribution centre in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands. With these solar panels the company generates approximately 1.6m KW hours of green electricity each year, equivalent to the annual consumption of 560 households. The new distribution centre became operational mid-2019 and provides global logistical support for the various Boskalis projects. The flat roof of over 16,000 m2 lends itself perfectly to this large number of solar panels. “ABS is playing a leading role in supporting the industry in achieving IMO decarbonisation objectives and developing digital classification services. The MPA is the perfect partner as we look to build on this work and further enhance Singapore’s status as a global maritime hub able to meet the demands of tomorrow’s marine industry,” said Dr Gu Hai, ABS Vice President,

Singapore Innovation and Research Centre. Boskalis realised this project in partnership with Zonnegilde and Triodos Bank Nederland.

Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, “With this large-scale generation of solar power, we are taking an important step towards realising our sustainability ambitions for our offices and distribution centres. This distribution centre is CO2 negative by generating more electricity than it consumes and the total installed capacity makes Boskalis for 15% self-sufficient in the Netherlands. We have been using 100% green electricity at our Dutch locations for years, but with this investment in Vlaardingen we go one step further by becoming partly self-sufficient. Following in the footsteps of the distribution centre in Vlaardingen, we have also started installing solar panels on our campus in Papendrecht and are investigating options for further upscaling. This will bring us a step closer to achieving our CO2neutral objective.”

Peter Berdowski (CEO Boskalis) with Gerard de Ruijter (CEO Zonnegilde) on the left

COLTRACO ULTRASONICS DESIGNS GAS MONITORING SYSTEM

Coltraco Ultrasonics has designed the Permalevel Featherweight (PML FW)), a constant monitoring system for CO2, Inert Gases and the combined weights of Clean Agents and Nitrogen, all in one lightweight system. In this article the author considers its application on Inert Gas.

Non-liquefied, pressurised inert gas systems currently rely on pressure gauges to determine their contents, as it is known that the pressure (adjusted for temperature) of a gas is directly related to the quantity of the gas.

PML FW directly relates a change in pressure of a cylinder at a known temperature to a change in its mass. The well-known ‘ideal gas’ equation predicts a 1:1 relationship between fractional changes in pressure and mass. The truth is that there is an intrinsic relationship between the two, however, it is more complicated than this and depends on the specific contents of the cylinder. At Coltraco, we are able to account for this in specific cylinders and inert gas agents, allowing us to accurately and reliably convert a change in mass to a change in pressure.

Mass, like pressure, is a direct measure of the quantity of a fixed volume of gas and, in fact, is a superior metric as it cannot be affected by external factors, like temperature - a cylinder system’s mass will only decrease if there is a loss of the agent from the cylinder.

On top of this, there are a number of other advantages to using the PML FW to monitor a cylinder’s contents by their mass compared with measuring their pressure. • The mass of the agent is completely independent of temperature (unlike pressure). • The PML FW can deliver significantly higher levels of precision and accuracy (<1%) compared to typical pressure gauges (~2.5%). • Coltraco has developed equations to allow us to highly accurately calculate the mass of any pressurised inert gas in a cylinder of a known volume and fill pressure. This also allows us to convert any change in mass directly to a temperature-adjusted change in pressure. • The PML FW will constantly, automatically monitor your cylinders, providing real time diagnostic data and detecting leaks almost immediately when they occur. • With intelligent design throughout the electronics and software, each PML FW unit is capable of monitoring up to 12 cylinders independently and simultaneously. For larger systems, multiple units can be easily chained together through a single power relay. • The PML FW has been designed so that its sensors can be removed and maintained without disruption to the rest of the system, delivering unparalleled safety compared to any existing weight-based system.

Key advantages explained: • The mass of agent is completely independent of temperature. A change in mass will always correspond to a change in the cylinder contents. This is not the case for pressure, as the internal pressure of a cylinder depends on its temperature. Pressure values must, therefore, take temperature into account, adding another potential source of error. In addition, service personnel often fail to take temperature into account at all.

• Accuracy: The PML FW can detect a change in mass of <1% in high pressure Inergen systems. Pressure gauges are not only unreliable - they are limited in their accuracy as they use an analogue scale. Pictured is a typical pressure gauge that would be used on a high-pressure inert gas cylinder. For a 20 MPa (200 bar) cylinder, the accuracy of this gauge is limited to 2.5% of the fill pressure. This is compounded by the potential for human error in reading any analogue scale - two people reading the same analogue scale could report slightly different values. In contrast, a digital scale will give the numerical value as

accurately & precisely as it is capable of doing. • This accuracy can be achieved for all highpressure Inergen/inert gas systems. Inergen is one of the most common inert gas fire extinguishing agents, and itself comes in 3 common blends, IG541, IG-55 and IG-01. The vast majority of Inergen systems use one of eight types of cylinder. <1% accuracy can be achieved for all of these blends in any of the common cylinders, (in many cases, even <0.5%)

• If a fast leak forms, far more than a 5% decrease in pressure could occur between measurements. The ISO regulations shown above only require pressure to be tested once every six months. A fast leak, or indeed a slower leak occurring shortly after a check, could lead to an incredibly unsafe environment, where any fire would almost certainly fail to be extinguished. This could potentially go unaddressed for months

• Constant, automated monitoring. The PML FW addresses this issue, as once a cylinder is mounted, it is continuously monitored. If the agent mass drops by more than 1%, the cylinder is marked as ‘LEAKING’. If mass loss exceeds 5%, the system will initiate an alarm and note a ‘CRITICAL LEAK’ on the cylinder.

The PML FW is fundamentally simple - the cylinder is threaded onto a high-precision load cell, which, once calibrated, will return the weight of the cylinder, accurate to approximately ±100g. Therefore, any cylinder with an agent mass greater than 10kg can be measured with precision greater than 1%. However, simply monitoring the weight of a cylinder is not sufficient to deduce fractional changes in the agent mass.

The output of the load cell is the total mass of the cylinder and its contents. To determine percentage change in agent mass, therefore, we have developed unique algorithms to allow us to accurately and reliably calculate the initial mass of the agent based off the cylinder volume, its fill pressure and temperature and molecular makeup of the agent. The most common method to determine the mass of a pressurised gas is to use the well-known ‘ideal gas’ equation, which is an approximation that ignores some physical properties of the gas molecules.

A rendering of the PML FW connected to two cylinders in-situ