Transport, lifting and installation of
No.2 reactors in Rijeka, Croatia
www.fagioli.com
[email protected]
PETROCHEM 29
Above: Transport of the heaviest vessel by means of 2x12 and 2x 14 SPMTs axle lines
Fagioli carried out the transport, lifting, tailing, traversing, rotation and
placing of two reactors in Croatia within a five day period – the first
being placed on the 9th May, 2009 and the second on the 14th. The
first reactor to be lifted was the larger of the two at 41.3m long, 4.4m diameter and weighing 996 tons, transported by means of 54 axle lines
Fagioli SPMTs.
Owing to site constraints, this reactor was delivered at about 45 degrees to the lifting system and offset from its’ foundation position. The
reactor was lifted and simultaneously tailed using SPMTs until it was
vertical. At this point the tailing system was removed and the reactor traversed until over its foundation. In this position the reactor was rotated
and finally lowered into place. The lifting and tailing equipment was then
relocated for the second reactor.
The second reactor was much smaller than the first at only 19.6m long,
5.2m diameter and weighing 511 tons (transported by 28 axle lines
SPMTs), and therefore the site constraints were less of a problem.
Again, this reactor required lifting, tailing, traversing, rotation and placing.
The Fagioli Towerlift support structure was used to support the strand
jack lifting equipment. This arrangement spanned both reactors, so relocation of steelwork was not required between operations.
Above: lifting detail
The details of the Towerlift configuration used on this project were as follows:
-Tower base stools fixed to reactor foundations to provide stability for the
system.
-Twin towers, 53.1m high at 23m centres. Towers in standard 3.5m x
3.5m square format.
-Full tower top spreader arrangements to ensure axial tower loads.
-Twin crosshead box beams fitted with skid rails and traversing equi
ment.
-Single jack support beams for tandem support of the two L600 lifting
jacks. Beam provided with Hilman rollers for both vertical load and side
guidance.
The strand jacking equipment provided for the lifting and traversing operations, was as follows:
-Two L600 lifting jacks each provided with a 37 part cable (s.w.l. 560
tons each). Lifting cables terminate in standard fixed anchors and trunnion type housings.
-Lifting jacks powered from an L4/35D power pack to give a lifting speed
of 12 metres per hour.
Two L50 pulling jacks each provided with a 3 part cable (s.w.l 45 tons
each) for each traversing direction.
- Pulling jacks operated from an L4/3D power pack to give a traversing
speed of 10 metres per hour.
-All lifting and traversing operations controlled from a single remote station at ground level.
The rigging equipment for final connection to the reactors comprised of
the following:
-A 1,700 tonnes capacity swivel, incorporating a low friction stainless
steel / p.t.f.e. interface.
-The rotation of the reactors was achieved using Tirfor winches connected between the tower legs and the reactor skirt.
-A final connection link and lifting pin fabricated to fit the reactor head
lug.
The tailing arrangement comprised of the following:
-Skirt beams designed to fit both reactors even though they had different diameters. These skirt beams are provided with two rocker pins
which match up with saddles in the SPMT beams.
-SPMT beams fixed to the bed of the SPMTs to spread the load over the
required length. These SPMT beams are fitted with two saddles (front
and back) to accept the skirt beam rocker pins. The purpose of having
two saddles is to ensure that before the centre of gravity of the reactor
passes over the front saddle, the load is already in the back saddle and
an overload or runaway condition cannot occur. The distance between
the saddles and the height of the second saddles are adjustable to suit
the reactor diameter and centre of gravity location.
-For the first reactor, three 12 axle SPMT arrangements were provided
and in this case the second saddles were mounted directly on the SPMT
beams.
-For the second reactor, two 12 axle SPMT arrangements were provided. This shorter reactor required a spacer to be installed between
the second saddles and the SPMT beams.
This was a very successful turnkey package for Fagioli in which we provided a complete service to the client, including all necessary support
works (cranes, plant, labour, etc.) to ensure a safe, professional operation was carried out on time.