Innovative solutions for the subsea sector

7th April 2016

Continuing to integrate innovative technological advances which recognize the importance of subsea technology and development in the industry across product ranges is vital for those sourcing back deck equipment and solutions. ACE Winches’ Linear Winches, 4-Track Tensioner and Reel Drive Systems (RDS) are the latest additions to an extensive hire fleet of winches and associated deck machinery.

ACE 200te SWL LINEAR CHAIN WINCH

ACE Winches designed, engineered and manufactured a 200te SWL Linear Chain Winch for rental to a leading oil and gas company. The product was first used on the ABO FPSO Project which involved replacing upper chain sections of the 12 mooring lines. The FPSO works in territorial waters off the coast of Nigeria, West Africa.

ACE Winches’ Linear Winch operates with cylinder technology thereby offering high level of compactness and weight optimum solution when compared to conventional anchor windlass. The Linear Chain Winch is road transportable as a complete unit without the need for any specialized transport or escorting. The ACE Linear Chain Winch has been designed to accommodate 84 mm chain.

ACE 100te LINEAR WINCH

When a leading energy company in oil and gas production, required a complete rental Pull in Winch System including Wire Rope and HPU for their Subsea Line Modification Project, ACE Winches supplied the total package. The deck machinery specialist designed and engineered a Linear Winch System required for operation on the Troll B Platform, offshore Norway.

The ACE 100te SWL Zone 11 Hydraulic Linear Winch is designed for use in land based shore pulls and offshore wire rope deployment and recovery operations. The rental package supplied incorporates a compact design and weight optimized linear winch.

ACE 100te linear winch houses 2 sets of gripper units operating on wedge technology for gripping the rope. The 2 sets of hydraulic cylinders operate in sequence to provide a continuous line pull. Unlike a conventional drum winch, ACE Linear Winch is not constrained by the amount of wire rope the winch drum can hold or suffer loss of pulling power as the wire rope spools higher onto drum.

4-TRACK TENSIONER

The 50te SWL 4-Track Tensioner along with 10te and 50te winch packages and associated personnel were deployed on hire on-board the “Olympic Ares” in respect of the recovery of eight risers, two umbilical’s and one electric cable from the MacCulloch Decommissioning project. The products recovered ranged in size from 160mm to 344mm using a single size of track pads.

Outline Specification

  • SWL 50Tonnes, Tensioner Track Speed 15 metres/minute, Product Diameter Range 50mm to 500mm
  • The ACE Track Tensioner utilises caterpillar track type systems for hauling or veering cable, umbilical, steel pipe or similar round tubular products. The units have been designed for horizontal and vertical deployment and are enclosed within a lift frame. The Tensioner can be operated in either two or four track mode with track links fitted with “V” shaped pads.

ACE REEL DRIVE SYSTEMS (RDS)

ACE Reel Drive Systems (RDS) are designed and built to support a range of reel sizes in order to accommodate individual client requirements. The RDS is designed and manufactured for use in the controlled spooling, deployment and recovery of SURF products.

The ACE 200te RDS is a hydraulically driven reel drive system capable of deploying and recovering reels of coiled tubing, flexible pipelines or umbilical up to a gross weight of 200te. It is driven by 2 off radial piston hydraulic motors, each of which drives directly onto the ACE 200te RDS drive hubs.

Operation of the ACE RDS 200 is manually controlled by means of a local control station which is located within a safe position which enables the operator a good view of all operations whilst the unit is operational.

Recently the 200te RDS was mobilised to the Normand Progress to accommodate multiple 8.6 metre diameter reels for the deployment of a 6” water injection flexible.

Each of ACE drive towers can be transported assembled to the worksite significantly improving client vessel mobilisation time. The system can be provided with either hub or butterfly shaft reel interfaces.

Outline Specification

  • Maximum Overall Dimensions 1200mm long x 4100mm wide x 3500mm high (each tower) with maximum reel diameter 9.2 metres and Gross Weight 12,500 Kgs (per tower). DNV approved.
  • 200 Tonnes (WLL reel capacity)
  • Suitable for over or under spooling in either direction, road transport and sea shipment securing points fitted as standard.

An ACE 400te RDS was commissioned to an international marine contractor in order to deploy mooring lines. The package was located on the port-side of the vessel and was used in conjunction with the vessel main crane to deploy the mooring line once the subsea connection had been made with the mooring chains.

This system was originally designed for a single reel to deploy multiple mooring lines. Subsequently, it has been developed to accommodate a range of reel sizes from 6m to 12.5m, to cater for the subsea market.

The ACE Reel Drive System (RDS) is hydraulically driven capable of deploying and recovering reels of wire rope, coiled tubing, flexible pipelines or umbilical up to a maximum gross reel weight of 400te.

The ACE Reel Drive System is driven by 4 axial piston hydraulic motors, each motor drives through a 3 stage reduction planetary gearbox onto a pinion and ring gear assembly mounted within each of the ACE Reel Drive System drive hubs. Through this reduction ratio the ACE Reel Drive System is capable of providing 112te/m of tension during deployment and recovery operations.

Outline Specification

  • Maximum Overall Dimensions 8994mm long x 3757mm wide x 7559mm high (each tower) with a maximum reel dimensions 12500 mm diameter and Gross Weight 55,000 Kgs (per Tower) excluding steel reel and wire rope or umbilical. CE Marked
  • 400 Tonnes (WLL reel capacity), 4 Hydraulic Motors, suitable for operation in safe areas only and certified to DNV 2.7–3 May 2011 — Portable Offshore Units

The 200te and 400te ACE Reel Drive Systems can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically by means of the hydraulic cylinder arrangement in each tower allowing the system to accommodate various reel dimensions.

ACE Winches offer turnkey solutions providing clients with a single point of contact, continuity and availability of equipment, supplied with multi-skilled personnel backed up by in-house Engineering and Project Management resource.