Seawater Jetting Package Is Brimmond’s Largest Manufacturing Project To Date
Specialist engineering firm, Brimmond, have completed their largest – and highest value – manufacturing project to date. The Aberdeenshire based firm was appointed to manufacture, install and commission a 1.8 Mega Watt seawater jetting package for a client in the offshore wind sector.
As part of a wind farm project in the English Channel, the client was contracted to manufacture the biggest drill of its type. However, given the clay-based nature of the soil in the seabed, they needed to ensure the drill remained as clean as possible in order to work optimally, and so maintain the project’s schedule and budget.
Brimmond, which specialises in the design, manufacture, rental and repair of lifting, mechanical and hydraulic equipment, secured the contract for the seawater jetting package designed to achieve just that. The package comprised:
Two 660kW Pump Units
Two Umbilical Reelers with integrated 45kW Electric Hydraulic Power Units
Two 250kW Submersible Pumps
Filter and Valve Skids
Launch and Recovery System
The system is being installed for the full duration of the campaign, assisting with the installation of wind turbine foundations off the coast of Northern France.
Challenges fuelling innovation
The inherent challenge for Brimmond’s client lay in producing the largest drill of its type in the world – being the first in any field inevitably involves pushing boundaries and testing theories.
Deadlines were already tight, but Brimmond also needed to factor in additional time to deliver components to Europe for the construction of mezzanine decks. These needed to be built around equipment on the back deck of the vessel for additional available deck space.
Several design changes had to be incorporated throughout the project, to allow the equipment to be accommodated within the mezzanine deck structure. For example the original design for a stacked system with containerised units on top of each other to reduce deck footprint, evolved into it all being contained in the mezzanine structure, so the Brimmond team needed to ensure the units were less the 3m tall.
This also resulted in the LARS (Launch and Recovery System) changing out from a conventional A-Frame type unit to a telescoping gantry to allow the submersible pump to be deployed. This meant reorientating a 5m long submersible lift pump from horizontal to vertical over the side of the vessel, without personnel working over the side or the use of the vessel crane.
The result
The vessel is currently in the field where they have been running trials and commissioning the whole system. Brimmond’s scope of the project is essentially complete, with the team attending the mobilisation in Blyth earlier this year to assist in installation and commissioning. Brimmond are still supporting with troubleshooting until the system is fully operational.
Lead Design Engineer, Greg Riddell, has been managing the contract. He said: “This has been a very exciting and high-profile scope of work for our team. As a major manufacturing project in the renewables sector, it’s testament to our commitment to the energy transition agenda, but also to our capability and competence to deliver pioneering engineering solutions to challenges within the renewables industry.”
Projects Director, Kerr Watson, added: “Our track record in manufacturing and commissioning high-quality, reliable equipment and technology both for sale and rental was integral to us securing this contract, as was our ambitious nature. We thrive on devising innovative solutions to technical challenges, and I’m extremely proud of our team who successfully delivered this complex jetting package within a pioneering project.”
Design and Manufacture
With Mechanical, Subsea and Hydraulic Engineers, Brimmond is well placed to deliver a vast range of tailored engineered systems from design to manufacture, offering the complete engineering solution from concept/FEED to complete product or service.
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