DEVELOPMENTS IN FOUNDATION TECHNOLOGY
PROVEN HYDRA-LOK SYSTEM MAKES ITS WAY TO THE WIND SECTOR
To install the four structures on the North Caspian project the company will mobilise a total of 4 swage tools, two 84” and two 72” tools together with auxiliary support equipment resulting in a combined weight of 400 tonne, which presents its own logistics and transportation challenges, all managed by Oil States MCS Limited giving the customer further confidence and satisfaction.
INWARD INVESTMENT
Over the past 12 months attributed to other successes, the company has continued to inwardly invest and is currently looking to expand its premises and workforce with a long term view of offering its services in other geographical regions.
Since its incorporation in 1979, Oil States MCS’s pedigree and reputation, gained through supplying services to all the major oil and gas operators, has contributed to the company successfully securing a major contract to install four offshore platforms located in the North Caspian Sea using its unique patented Hydra-Lok pile connection technique.
THE SYSTEM
The connection system was developed in the 1980’s for securing subsea structures to their driven foundation piles. The principle behind the Hydra-Lok system allows connections to be formed between concentric tubulars through expansion of the inner tubular (foundation pile) to contact the outer tubular (structure sleeve) by means of hydraulic pressure.
PROVEN OPERATION
Since the development of this technology the connection system has been used to secure a large variety of offshore structures typically including; subsea structures, deepwater offshore platforms and wind turbine jackets. In a typical operation the offshore structure is lowered to the seabed and foundation piles driven through the structure sleeve legs into the seabed.
Once the piles have been driven to the required penetration the Hydra-Lok swage tool is deployed subsea, inserted into the pile, and positioned within the structure leg such that the swage tool seals span a grooved region of the sleeve leg. The swaging process starts with the inflation
46
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
of the two axially displaced seals on the swaging tool, which seal against the inside of the pile creating a pressure tight annular chamber of water around the tool.
Pressurisation of this captive annulus by pumping in water causes the pile to expand outwards into the sleeve, as an analogy it can be compared to inflating a balloon inside a cardboard tube until it contacts the tube wall. The connection is deemed to be complete when the pile has been expanded and the annulus pressure has
reached a predetermined value. Upon releasing the annulus pressure the outer sleeve contracts onto the pile to create an interference fit.
SPECIFICATIONS AND CHALLENGES Swage tools are available to form connections on standard pile diameter sizes ranging from 24 inch through to 84 inch. You need to appreciate that the size of the swaging tool used to accommodate 84” diameter piles has a weight of 105 tonne, a diameter of 1.8 metres and overall length of 9 metres.
Oil States MCS Ltd, based on the Sowerby Woods Industrial estate, Barrow- In-Furness, is an already established world leader in providing structural swaged pile connection systems for applications in the oil, gas and renewables industries.
Oil States MCS Ltd
www.oilstates.com
Click to view more info
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116