Gas turbine venture identifies niche in booming FPSO sector
This month, Hedemora Industriakustik (HIAK) should make its first delivery to the Mexican offshore sector, when its supplies two turbine exhaust silencers for Pemex’s Ku Maloop Zaap FPSO.
HIAK’s client is Kanfa, part of the Sevan Marine group, which is providing the process plant. Conversion of the Bergesen-owned tanker,Berge Enterprise, into the FPSO is being managed in the Far East, but HIAK’s consignment will be sent to Kanfa in Drammen, Norway.
HIAK, which develops and manufactures enclosures and associated acoustic equipment for turbine installations, has further designs on the currently strong FPSO market. One route in could be via its collaboration with turbine manufacturer Siemens, to which it has already quoted prices for supplying an FPSO project.
According to managing director Lars Tallkvist, some re-engineering of the company’s products has been undertaken to adapt them for an FPSO application, where loads and forces are completely different than on a fixed installation. Other modifications are also necessary to enable the equipment to be removed when the turbines need servicing, as they are installed in much tighter spaces on an FPSO, he says.
The exhaust silencers for the Ku Maloop Zaap FPSO are 5m long and 3m square, and made of stainless steel. Each weighs about five tons. For noise reduction HIAK uses absorbent bars made of perforated stainless steel plate and containing mineral wool. The bars may be mounted vertically or horizontally within the casing. The company, which has developed its own program for calculating noise reduction impact, says bars offer numerous advantages over the alternative of mufflers.
For instance, bars allow the structures to be made more compact, and they are simpler to construct. They are also lighter - the weight of HIAK’s silencers varies from around three tons to 10 tons, depending on the size, which ranges from 3m to 6m. Bars are more efficient than mufflers at absorbing noise, especially at higher frequencies. Other positive features are compact design, low pressure drop and high transmission loss.
Siemens collaboration
The Pemex contract restores HIAK’s links with the offshore sector, which went quiet following a series of deliveries in the late 1990s. These included an exhaust silencer for Norsk Hydro’s Snorre B floating platform in the Norwegian sector, and a complete package for Amerada Hess’s Arne South platform in the Danish sector.
HIAK’s silencers feature absorbent bars, rather than conventional mufflers. Pictured is a land-based application.
In early 2006 Hedemora was expecting to renew for a further three years its co-operation agreement with Siemens to supply a range of acoustic equipment for turbine deliveries from the latter’s plant in Finspong, Sweden. The equipment includes enclosures for the auxiliary room, gearbox and generator, air intake silencer and exhaust silencer, and, although this is not an acoustic product, the control room as well. Where complete packages are required, the company buys in the air intake filter house and ventilation systems.
The cooperation agreement was originally made in 1998 with ABB, which then operated the Finspong plant. It currently covers Siemens’ SGT600 and 700 turbines (formerly designated GT10B and C). As part of the agreement, HIAK has been carrying out cost reductions on its deliveries to Siemens since 2003. It has knocked 20% off the price levels of three years ago, despite a subsequent 50% increase in steel prices, Tallkvist points out.
To achieve the price cuts, much of the manufacturing has been moved from Sweden to low-cost countries; standardization and modularization have been introduced; materials and finishes have been changed; and assembly methods and workshop procedures have been altered. Efforts also continue to find lower-cost suppliers.
The company can deliver a complete set of enclosures and associated equipment in 12 weeks, but given that some changes usually have to be implemented, 16 weeks is more normal.
Through its agreement with Siemens the company is currently involved in high-volume deliveries to compressor station projects in Iran. Two contracts are involved: TC50, under which 50 turbine packages are being supplied, and IGAT 5, which calls for 20 packages. HIAK is supplying the ‘noble’ parts and manufacturing system for the enclosures.
The contracts involve a high degree of local content. HIAK has worked with Iranian companies, providing instruction on the manufacture of some of the parts and the assembly. It is responsible itself for manufacturing the sophisticated parts involving its proprietary technology, such as the absorbent bars for the silencers.
Delivery of equipment for the TC 50 contract is due to be completed in 2007; in January equipment had been supplied for 35 turbine units. The final deliveries for IGAT 5 were made in February.
Also in collaboration with Siemens, a similar contract was recently fulfilled with a Russian customer, which with instruction from HIAK procured some parts locally and also undertook assembly. This order was for six turbine packages.•
For more information, contact Lars Tallkvist, Hedemora Industriakustik. Tel +46 225 59 56 21, fax +46 225 154 35, [email protected], www.hiak.se.
