INDUSTRY NEWS
Eaton XL Cylinders Help Mooring Tensioners Withstand Brutal Conditions
In order to keep gas production on track, bespoke mooring tensioners were recently required for a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) compression and storage vessel off the coast of West Africa. Due to the application’s brutal offshore conditions, the manufacturer of the mooring tensioners turned to long-term technology partner Eaton and its high-quality XL hydraulic cylinders, which provide top performance, extreme reliability and major safety advantages.
Having worked together for over two decades, the customer knew that Eaton could offer manufacturing expertise, proprietary technologies and high- quality solutions alongside its ability to collaborate on customised designs.
Performance and Reliability With a proven record of performance and reliability, Eaton’s XL hydraulic cylinders find use in some of the world’s toughest applications across demanding sectors like oil and gas, mining and hydropower.
Says Peter Claessens, Manager Customer Support & Supply Chain: “Any issue with the FLNG vessel’s stability could disrupt the entire project, creating not only safety concerns, but a considerable loss of time and money. It was up to us to make sure that didn’t happen.”
The stakes were high, but the customer’s requirements also created some unique technical challenges. For instance, Eaton needed to supply a bespoke solution for the unusual mooring system where the XL cylinders were in an atypical horizontal orientation.
“Another challenge was continuous exposure to saltwater and sea spray, as well as sand blowing over from
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the Sahara in high winds,” explains Claessens. “With project operations expected to run for up to three decades, our solution not only had to perform, it had to be incredibly resilient.”
Technical Advantages Of particular note, the project was able to benefit from major technical advantages, such as Eatonite laser cladding. Eaton’s proprietary cylinder rod coating offers superior corrosion resistance in saltwater operations following 10 years of proven use in the field with no reported failures. Importantly, Eatonite is fully field repairable, which further reduces the cost of any necessary upkeep.
“Cylinders usually need to be dismantled and sent for recoating, but we can do repairs locally in application, minimising both cost and time,” says Claessens.
Eaton also integrated a stroke measurement system that indicates the position of the piston in the cylinder and accumulator at any moment, thus supporting the early identification of any accumulator leaks.
On-Time Delivery Within a short 10-month lead-time, Eaton’s Eindhoven facility in the Netherlands designed, manufactured and delivered 12 mooring tensioner XL cylinders featuring built-in accumulators. Offering a 600 mm diameter and 4500 mm stroke length, these hefty hydraulic cylinders have a design pressure of 230 bar (3335 psi). Each one is also equipped with high-grade stainless-steel piping and manifold blocks.
“Our customer focus was key to the success of this project, as was an expert manufacturing plant that always lives up to its promises and has a 100% on-time delivery record,” concludes Claessens.
Eaton now stands ready to provide the customer with long-term support for repairs, spares, servicing and upgrades as required in the future.
Eaton’s mission is to improve the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. They provide sustainable solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power – more safely, more efficiently, and more reliably. Eaton’s 2020 revenues were $17.9 billion, and they sell products to customers in more than 175 countries. They have approximately 94,000 employees.
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