Allspeeds Webtool Safeguards Pressure
By Marine Technology Reporter
Allspeeds Ltd., designers and manufacturers of the Webtool range of products, nominated the Webtool HP690 intensifier panel for the Subsea UK Innovation for Safety Award. Safety concerns were being expressed from those working offshore in deep water with regards to the use of high pressure hydraulics and traditional ROV hydraulic intensifier panels. Allspeeds identified that the main safety issue was that standard pressure intensifiers contain a check valve. This check valve requires a deliberate reversal of pressure in order to relieve the high pressure circuit after the intensifier has completed its task. Failure to reverse this pressure manually or in the event of an HPU or ROV breakdown causing the inability to reverse the pressure, will result in a high pressure circuit at approximately 700Bar (10,000psi) this will remain energised whilst the ROV resurfaces.
Allspeeds designed HP690 which safeguards the user with automatic protection from the possibility of locked in high pressure hydraulic fluid. There is no longer any need for the user to manually reverse the pressure to make the hydraulic system safe, this will happen automatically. In addition to this, the input pressure will be automatically compensated for depth via the ROV’s own HPU, so as the ROV surfaces, the high pressure side of the circuit also compensates. These features also allow any pressure build up due to temperature variation to be vented back to the ROV’s pressure tank.
www.allspeeds.co.uk
(As published in the January/February 2014 edition of Marine Technology Reporter - www.seadiscovery.com)