In August 2017, the head of Rotec’s Plymouth Depot, Dave Nance, brought in an interesting enquiry from one of Rotec’s existing customers – an engineering firm specialising in work in Aviation, Land, Marine and Defence sectors.
The firm required a bespoke containerised flushing rig system for marine application. All Design work for the Container, Hydraulic & Electrical was completed in-house by Rotec, followed by a build by a team of Rotec engineers, in-house electrical specialist and a number of subcontracted engineers to help with the workload. The whole team was headed by Andy Rimes and Richard Renfree.
The project took 3 months from start to completion.
Bespoke container:
6000mm long x 2500mm high x 2500mm wide
Tunnel design with double doors each end
2x separate Power units installed inside the container:
Each Power unit generally based upon: 4 x 7.5 Kw Motor & Pump sets installed onto a 3000 Litre stainless steel reservoir
Each Motor & Pump set producing variable flow rates from 70 L/Minute up to 170 L/Min via Electronic Variable speed Motor invertor drive control
Each Motor & Pump set provides Bi-Directional flushing control via directional control valves
Each Motor & Pump set provides pressure and return line filtration – Filtration ranges from 2 to 10 microns (Depending on filter elements used)
Individual contamination monitoring for each circuit.
Custom made and designed electrical control operating system:
At the beginning of 2016, we started to work with National Grid, contracted to support the company’s hydraulic, pneumatic and electronic needs alongside the primary project (bespoke winching systems for their fleet of vehicles), and we didn’t have to wait long for a challenging project to come through.
The company was planning a maintenance project in and around of Chepstow, involving the lowering and raising of insulators on the two 500ft high river crossing towers spanning the river Severn, which form part of the national grid and the 21,000 towers owned by the company in the UK.
Chris Land, National Grid’s Equipment and Live Working Overhead Line Engineer supervising the project relates:
“This project has been challenging from the start, not only because of the height of the towers but also because the tower loadings and fittings on these towers are totally unique compared to the rest of the towers on the transmission network. The insulators were last changed in 1969 and we have very limited experience of working on these towers, we have been working from 50 year old drawings and information to develop the procedures necessary to carry out the replacement of the insulators. The primary focus has been to maintain a safe working environment for the linesman carrying out the work to enable the work to be delivered safely and within the timescales. The work was delivered well within the allotted timescales with zero incidents”
Lowering old insulators
Swapping old for new
New insulators lifted into position
Preparations for this project have taken over 6 months, with 6 weeks given to the crew to complete the work on the two 500 ft high towers. Rotec was asked to design and build a bespoke Tower Leg Capstan Winch Assembly for the project, capable of lowering and raising the heavy insulators on a system of ropes.
The assembly consists of three main components: capstan winch, engine drive unit and a reservoir unit. Adrian Derbidge, Rotec’s engineer assigned to the project says “This is a powerful unit, with a safe working limit of up to 1 ton on a dynamic line pull”. Adrian has seen the project through from the start, starting with the design and build, all the way to the site visits, maintaining his presence in case of any adjustments being necessary. He says the challenges in this project were in keeping the units as light as possible and compact, while retaining their ability to tackle heavy loads.
Click below to watch the National Grid engineers work at dizzying heights as shown on the news:
In 2014, Rotec were invited to join Coastal Charters, a commercial maritime business based in West Cumbria, on the development of WaveAccess.
The project originally came as a response to an emerging trend within the offshore wind industry to move the construction further out into the sea. The company anticipated the industry’s need for a reliable vessel that would be faster and able to cope with the challenging conditions further offshore.
The goal of the project was to design and build a rapid crew transfer vessel that would be faster, safer and cheaper to run than the vessels in use, resulting in the pilot vessel: Tenacity
The radical new design allows for transport of passengers and crew with dramatically reduced fuel consumption at twice the speed, while maintaining safety, minimising motion sickness and improving comfort at up to 40 kts in seas in excess of 2m. The vessel can be used for crew transfers in industries such as oil & gas, offshore wind and construction, search and rescue, patrol, medivac, safety boat, to name a few.
See video of the vessel in action on WaveAccess website or YouTube channel
Thanks to Rotec’s extensive marine experience and previous control systems the company had developed for use on multi-hull jet vessels in the wind-farm support vessel industry we were invited to participate in this innovative project.
Andy Rimes, Rotec’s Technical Director outlines the project “Together with the team at WaveAccess and other specialists we developed a bespoke control system for the twin waterjet propulsion system to provide fully automated synchronised control of the jets, clutches, thrusters and main engines both in normal forward cruising modes and reverse facing tower operations.”
The electronic system is based on Parker Hannifin’s Iqan mobile controller and associated products. “As well as the electronic supervisory control and monitoring system we also completely re- equipped the Italian Castoldi waterjets hydraulic drive and control systems to provide fully proportional control electronically controlled from the Iqan system. This provides a smoother, more controllable and economic drive system. “
All design work and bench testing took place at Rotec’s premises in Taunton, with the installation, setup and sea trials carried out by Rotec engineers at Coastal Charters home in Cumbria.
It was a challenging, yet ultimately rewarding, experience to be involved with the development of a concept vessel such as this and we wish Stephen and all the crew and team at WaveAccess best of luck with their promotion of the successful and innovative vessel to the industry.
Western Power Distribution faced some tough decisions as their workhorse of choice, the iconic Land Rover Defender production was brought to a close. The company had to find an alternative vehicle suitable for the challenging working conditions and decided on the formidable Isuzu Dmax. Rotec have been the power supplier’s chosen partners in developing and producing a fleet of vehicles adapted to cover the urban and rough terrain that covers their distribution network. Rotec’s engineers have designed, built and installed over 1200 of the tailored made winches over the past decade, all the way until the last Defender model rolled of line at Solihull, bringing the icon’s 70 years of service to a close.
Land Rover Defenders
The Land Rover Defender is well known for its universal chassis base, often adapted to suit a wide range of applications that allowed commercial and end users to produce a wide range of engineered solutions that could either be mechanically or hydraulically driven. Rotec designed, manufactured and installed a range of winch solutions that meet the demands of the overhead linesman who required a robust system that gave precision winching often in remote and arduous terrain.
Rotec winch systems meet statutory requirements for lifting under the ‘Lifting operations and lifting equipment regulations 1998’, winches installed meet BS EN14492 providing the lines man with quality products that often employed electronic controls to safe guard load control and interlocks incorporated within the vehicle.
Isuzu Dmax
We were excited to announce that WPD had extended the contract as they rolled out their new fleet – the tough Isuzu Dmax 4×4.
WPD announced “Rotec mechanical and hydraulic design engineers continue to work on new hydraulic winch systems for a wide range of vehicles that will embrace the technology and experience gained over the years with the Land Rover. Whilst Feb 2016 has seen the last of any new production Land Rovers, the vehicle will be adapted and utilised by many enthusiast and commercial companies for hydraulic applications in many years to come, Rotec is the team to work with.”
“Creating history, not recreating it” were the words of Professor Martin Attrill, Director of the Marine Institute at Plymouth University. Certainly a cause worth striving for by the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) makers.
At the end of October we were invited to attend a launch of a crowdfunding campaign aiming to raise some of the £10 million needed to turn this beautiful design into reality. Rotec are going to join the adventure by making a donation but also contributing with their expertise, lending their engineers to the project, and becoming one of the main suppliers.
The benefits of this donation include:
Mayflower Autonomous Ship
* Witnessing the arrival of the MAS400 (flight provided). * Thanks across our social media platforms, website and automatic registration to receive the monthly newsletter. * A signed letter of thanks from the MAS team on watermarked paper. * A Mayflower 400 T Shirt & entry to the exclusive draw where the winner will get VIP ticket (reward price £1000) to the launch of the Mayflower 400 in 2020. *Rotec’s name ‘on board’ *A tour of the MAS to include signed photograph. * Exclusive invitation to the MAS champagne hosted reception/unveiling. * Exclusive invitation to the VIP Launch of the MAS 2020.
Listen to what Radio Plymouth and some of the attendees had to say about the event (comment from Rotec’s own Dave Nance at 1:50):
The research vessel is projected to sail in 2020, celebrating 400 years since the pilgrims set off of the shores of Plymouth for the New World. The project is more than just a leap of faith. It is a well-researched (ad)venture potentially benefiting a number of industries, virtually catapulting the marine industry into 21st century. Needless to say Rotec are truly excited to be a part of this project.
Plymouth university, MSubs , ProMare and Shuttleworth Design, teamed up to build the third Mayflower “ushering us into a new phase of oceanographic and climatological research with state-of-the-art technology.” (Brett Phaneuf, Managing Director – MSubs)
The estimated vessel length is 32.5 meters, with top speed of 12.5 knots. But speed is not the goal here, as Orion Shuttleworth reminds us, “The design is focused on the ship’s ability to conduct a variety of scientific researches, being powered by renewable energy”
Mayflower Autonomous Ship
Paddy Dowsett – Project Manager, MSubs says:
“This project brings a number of new technologies together in a way that hasn’t been done before. There are some smaller autonomous crafts in existence, however nothing anywhere near this scale in terms of size and technicality.”
The Earl and Countess of Devon also spoke at the event, explaining why Plymouth is the perfect place for the project.
“Plymouth has served as the last stop for ships before setting off on a long journey for centuries. It has always been a unique place with the capacity to supply the necessary skills, stock and supplies to help adventurers through their treacherous journeys.”
The launch is expected to shine a spotlight on the coastal city, attracting a lot of public interest within the UK and the USA.
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