A project right up our alley

Photo courtesy of Seaqualize.

BOOTH NO. 1.200

OFFSHORE ENERGY AMSTERDAM

INNOVATION PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OUR INDUSTRY. IT IMPROVES THE CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF OFFSHORE ASSETS. RECENTLY, A NEW INNOVATIVE IN-HOOK, ACTIVE HEAVECOMPENSATED LIFTING TOOL PASSED A NEXT STEP IN ITS COMMERCIALISATION. BREMAN MACHINERY PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THIS LAUNCHING PROJECT.

We meet on a quayside in the port of Roterdam where the Seaqualize Delta 600 prototype is undergoing its frst load test. An important day for both Gjalt Lindeboom, Managing Director of Seaqualize, and Albertus Vos, Project Manager at Breman Machinery.

“The Seaqualize Delta 600 is a lifing tool that allows the adding of actve heave compensaton for heavy lifs as a rental tool to any standard heavy lif crane”, Mr Lindeboom says. He contnues, “One of the largest advantages of this is that by using this tool, any crane gets up to 95% heave compensaton capabilites. This makes lifing operatons at sea more fexible, efcient, safer, and cheaper.” Seaqualize selected Breman Machinery for the constructon of the steel framework. Mr Lindeboom explains, “Our Delta 600 is a complex workpiece requiring many diferent technical disciplines. For the mechanical engineering, we were looking for a reliable partner with all the required expertse and tooling. When consultng the market, Breman Machinery appeared to be the best opton as they have extensive knowledge and expertse in the feld of designing and constructng mechanical steel structures. They also have a great track record and an excellent reputaton in the ofshore market, making them the most obvious partner for us. Their valuable presence in the project will also help in marketng the tool, as a trustworthy and well-known project partner will give us lots of credits in the market.”

According to Mr Lindeboom, Breman made ample eforts in constantly keeping the lines short between the various partners in a think-along, fexible, and problem-solving way. “Things always change during any complex project, especially in a prototype project like ours. To make sure that everyone’s expectatons were on the same level, Breman kept everyone informed throughout the entre process, which was very comfortng for us”, Mr Lindeboom elaborates. “It gave us the certainty that everything was under control.” Mr Vos gives a small example of Breman’s way of working during the project. “Once we were granted the project, our engineering department frst looked through all calculatons and plans of the tool, as they know from experience that a designer’s idea ofen does not correspond with efcient fabricaton. In doing so, we could suggest some valuable technical improvements in the DNVapproved design.” According to Mr Vos, one of the other strengths of Breman lies in the fact that the company can construct steel products of extreme weight and dimensions with metculous precision. “With the Delta 600,” he voices, “where the mechanical embodiment is a complex >>

Photo courtesy of Breman Machinery.

Photo courtesy of Seaqualize.

Photo courtesy of Breman Machinery.

workpiece of various steel types, thicknesses and precision levels, we could show our competencies. For the tool, which weighs around 125t and is nearly 10m high, we were able to construct within a 0.2mm accuracy, which is quite extraordinary. This accuracy is important for the tool as many techniques work together with response rates of just tens of seconds, and fricton needs to be kept to a minimum. For Seaqualize, it was a reassuring thought that we could help them with all our in-house skills and facilites for machining, fabricaton, sheet-metal work, rolling, bending, and fnishing techniques.”

Seaqualize has ample experience in moton compensaton in other applicatons, but the testng of the Delta 600 was an excitng moment for Mr Lindeboom. “The in-hook moton compensator is a relatvely heavy tool that needs to make small movements using as litle power as possible, so it can delicately pick up and set down loads under harsh circumstances at sea. For this, we have managed to realise set down velocites of only 5 to 7cm/s, even in Hs 3.0 conditons. But theory can be diferent from practce, so we were very keen to test the tool to fnd out how it performs in the hook of a crane with a heavy load.” The load test, jointly conducted with MARIN and TNO, was successfully carried out. Meanwhile, a next step was carried out with a 660t overload test a few weeks afer the interview. This test was passed with fying colours too.

Photo courtesy of Breman Machinery.

When everything goes according to plans, the in-hook moton compensator will have its frst trial later this year at sea with Van Oord’s Aeolus. “We hope that the test ofshore will mark the start of a successful commercialisaton”, Mr Lindeboom says. “With a SWL of 600mT, the Seaqualize Delta 600 intends to be the frst of a planned series in various sizes. Our idea is to expand the range with versions up to 2,000mT and beyond for controlled and safe installatons of complete wind turbines. They will be available for rent, ofering fexibility in any ofshore project.” “At Breman, we really enjoyed this project as it really was right up our alley”, Mr Vos concludes. “It gave us the opportunity to show the market that we work according to our core values, demonstratng commitment and delivering quality.”