the life of the Project by 28 mooring lines—representing more than 25,000 tons of anchor chain. Ultimately, the project will cost an estimated $34 billion, comprise 890 kilometers of gas export pipeline (longest in southern hemisphere), utilize the first semi- submersible production platform in Australian waters, enjoy a 40-year operational life, use 40,000 tons of CPF and FPSO mooring chains, as well as 74,000 gas export pipeline joints. Overall, it is estimated that more than 12 trillion cubic feet of gas sits in the Ichthys field.
Unique Characteristics As you might imagine, the world’s largest semi- submersible platform requires the world’s largest riser protection net system. Due to the unique inboard riser layout of the CPF, and the risk of accidental vessel collision, the riser protection nets were designed by Tension Technologies International (TTI) to engage and repel any oncoming vessel or like-size structure. Trough TTI, Houston (TX)-based SWOS, one of the world’s leading distributors of synthetic rigging solutions, was able to bid on the project. On February 12, 2015, SWOS was awarded a 12-month contract for testing, construction, and packaging of the three TTI designed nets—resulting in a partnership between two pioneers in the synthetic rope industry. “We certainly look forward to these types of
challenges,” said Mike Poroo, project leader at SWOS. “Tese nets had some truly unique characteristics. Upon impact, they have to stretch enough and give enough so that load can be transferred to the platform itself,
THE ICHTHYS LNG PROJECT IS RANKED AMONG THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OIL AND GAS PROJECTS IN THE WORLD— EXPECTED TO PRODUCE 8.9 MILLION TONS OF LNG (LIQUID NATURAL GAS) AND 1.6 MILLION TONS OF LPG (LIQUID PETROLEUM GAS) PER ANNUM
but can’t stretch so far that the vessel itself gets beneath the platform.” Poroo emphasized that SWOS dialed in a variety of twisting techniques and materials to get the perfect tension on the rope (the nets are over 130 meters long). “One of the nets utilized a seldom-used hybrid polyester fiber—a little stronger and stiffer than polyester. We, in turn, had to lean on Whitehill Manufacturing [a custom synthetic rope designer out of Chester, PA], who had the expertise and fiber knowledge to understand how to actually turn a fiber into a piece of rope that would work on this project.” Te net system’s specifications required unique fibers
and rope constructions for horizontal strength members in each net. Per TTI’s specifications, Whitehill designed and provided SWOS with the synthetic ropes needed to fulfill the specific one-off engineering requirement. Te East and West net’s main strength members were
constructed from 140mm high-performance polyester rope, measuring 78 meters in length, 10 meters in height,
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE MARCH–APRIL 2018 23
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