Offshore cranes
Cranes are used across every industry involving lifting or construction. The offshore industry uses cranes in multiple applications on oil rigs and vessels. As with all offshore tools, they are required to be extremely durable, able to withstand the excesses of the offshore environment, including driving winds and sea water. Third party inspection agencies test all fabrications to ensure complete safety; any malfunction can cause a serious accident, with devastating effects both for personnel and for the environment.
The challenge of repair
An additional challenge for the offshore industry is the remoteness of the oil rigs and vessels. This means that it can be hard to source and fit replacement parts for repairs. In spite of the rigorous testing and overengineering, crane parts need regular maintenance and eventually repair or replacement. As seals break down over time, the hydraulic cylinders are at risk of leaking, which if not quickly repaired or replaced, will cause entire system failure.
Offshore cranes are produced by top quality equipment manufacturers. However, when the parts do eventually fail, companies do not necessarily wish to go back to the Original Equipment Manufacturer for a replacement part, as individual parts can be overpriced. Apex Hydraulics offer replacement hydraulic cylinders that are cost effective, while being entirely bespoke – replacing (and often improving on) the OEM part, with specialist coatings, seals and valves.
Many companies will commission spare hydraulic cylinders even before machinery breaks down, so that the crane suffers minimal downtime. Apex can repair or replace hydraulic cylinders to fit cranes produced by all global manufacturers, including Kenz, TMS, Liebherr, Huismans, Palfinger and MacGregor.
In recent months, Apex was approached by a global oil company to manufacture some hydraulic cylinders as replacements for an offshore crane. They wanted two generic cylinders (from a crane by a top name OEM) to be replaced, as they could not afford the downtime required to remove the cylinders and send them off for repairs.
Like-for-like replacement
As the company didn’t want to decommission the cranes in order to replace the cylinders, they commissioned like-for-like replacements. Apex was able to establish the measurements, using the diagrams from the OEM.
To produce the cylinder to fit, there are only a minimal number of measurements that are required for the mountings and length.
With the required measurements, Apex Hydraulics were able to quickly produce top quality, bespoke cylinders to fit the crane. Apex Hydraulics are experienced in working with the offshore industry. Seals, valves and tubes are expertly chosen for longevity and durability. Where requested, specialist coatings can be used. Apex has developed their own coating, Corex, which was created with leading industry experts to be up to one tenth as porous as Hard Chrome Plating, making it an ideal coating for offshore applications,
The cylinder replacements had to be approved by a third-party inspection agency. Apex is familiar with working closely with third party inspection agencies, to ensure that parts are all tested to the specified requirements for their approval.
Apex Results
The resulting hydraulic cylinders are fully DNV GL approved, top quality and bespoke, ready to be a swift replacement for the OEM hydraulic cylinder whenever required. This will allow the oil company a quick turnaround with minimal downtime and little disruption when replacing the parts.
Gallery
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Related Products
The following products were utilised as part of this project. For more detailed information on these products, click on an image below…
