GF Piping Systems, supplier of piping systems for liquids and gases, has replaced the steel pipes for the bow thrusters on an icebreaker belonging to the Swedish Maritime Administration with a customised complete solution. With the aim of maintaining maximum performance, the company retrofitted around 200 metres of thermoplastic piping components: a customised DN1000 HDPE piping system and 100 electrofusion fittings and PE100 sockets.
The icebreaker Oden is the most powerful non-nuclear ship of its kind and is deployed throughout the Baltic Sea in winter. The rest of the year it is used as a research platform for Swedish polar expeditions in the Arctic.
The icebreaker is specially designed for the high operational requirements and has square bows, a special hull shape and oversized rudders. To reduce friction and improve energy efficiency, the ship's bow thrusters spray water onto the ice under high pressure.
„To cope with the high flow rates and pressures for this process“, the system originally relied on steel pipes, says GF Piping. However, „due to recurring corrosion problems“, these had to be replaced.
Installation of standard components not possible due to cramped conditions
The cramped conditions on board required technical support from the contractor in order to „design a customised solution“. A „feasibility study, pipe stress analyses, hydraulic calculations and analyses of the flow behaviour and energy consumption“ were also necessary. According to the company, GF Piping Systems therefore supplied a customised HDPE piping system 200 m long in the dimension DN1000 as well as 100 electrofusion fittings and sockets made of PE100.
During the retrofitting of the icebreaker, 14 installers worked for around 2,000 hours. The corrosion-free, thermoplastic pipes are expected to have a longer service life than metal pipes, „while smooth inner surfaces allow the same flow volume as metal pipes in larger dimensions“, explains GF Piping Systems.
(Quelle: GF Piping Systems)
