Safe Working Environment When Loading and Installing Offshore Wind Turbines From A Large JU Vessel - Wiki Cleantech

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Safe Working Environment when Loading and Installing

Offshore Wind Turbines from a large JU Vessel
by Asbjorn Mortensen Dr. Ing., Sudhan Vincent B.Eng. ; Department of Drilling Equipment Keppel Offshore &
Marine Technology Centre | | Offshore | Wind Energy
Summary
This paper outlines how wind turbine blades may be handled on a large 4- legged Jack- Up
vessel, and installed safely and efficiently on the offshore location, by use of the Principle of
Horizontal Guiding for all lifting operations. A Knuckle Boom Crane with blade gripper in its
wrist is a central component for the layout of topside equipment for this vessel. Specifically, it is
shown a racking system to store blades as triples in a common frame, which fits the blade
cradles commonly in use for supporting the blades from factory to installation site. The cradles
fits inside this frame, so safe and consistent handling of blades can be obtained, independent of
chosen blade supplier, in the harbour and on the vessel, and when laying down empty cradles
inside the frames on the vessel and when returned to the harbour. Blades are assembled by the
Knuckle Boom Crane to rotors in a low elevation on a fixture turning the rotors hub, before the
complete rotor is hoisted to the top of the Wind Turbine tower. Three alternative means of
handling the rotor is shown, all fitting the same layout with blade rack and Knuckle Boom
Crane. The vessel layout also involves a lattice boom crane, for handling of tower sections and
nacelles from the harbour to the vessel.
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Safe Working Environment when Loading and Installing

Offshore Wind Turbines from a large JU Vessel
INTRODUCTION
The offshore wind industry is based on the same Wind Turbine (WT) as widely used in
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onshore applications. The most common assembly method in use follows a sequential
procedure, starting with one or two vertical Tower sections bolted to a grounded Foundation.
Then follows the Nacelle housing the generator and gearbox, located on top of the tower. At
last follows the Rotor, which consists of a Hub and three Blades.
A number of very innovative assembly methods for offshore WT have been proposed in the
literature, in order to make its assembly more cost efficient and having less downtime due to
weather conditions. The methods are strongly dependent on the chosen vessel
configuration. This paper describes the use of a large Dynamic Positioned (DP) 4- legged JackUp (JU), in order to create a stable platform for installation, with capacity to carry 5-10 WTs
for each harbour visit. The described assembly method in this paper is based on the
conservative fact that most WTs are assembled from individual parts having lifting points
certified for crane lift, and with an existing lifting technology using spreader beams, yokes,
grippers, fixtures/ cradles, and special assembly tools as hub tilting/ turning tool.
Rotors are typically assembled in two ways:

1. Elevated assembly, horizontal blade/ hub turning method: The nacelle has a hub turning
motor, enabling the hub to be slowly turned 120 degrees before the next blade is bolted into
the hub. A crane with a blade gripper lifts the blade from the ground to the top of the WT,
always in horizontal orientation. The blade gripper may have integrated blade rotation and
blade pitching features, and typically using two wide canvas belts to strap the blade from
above.
2. Ground assembly, horizontal rotor method: The 3 blades are bolted to the hub sitting on a
turning fixture on the ground, then one or two cranes lift the assembled rotor to the top of
the WT, using a hub tilting lifting device, and bolts it into the nacelle shaft.
The purpose of this paper is to describe an efficient way of safely storing a number of
offshore WT in individual parts, on a large ocean going vessel with legs to create a stable
installation platform, as well as to describe vessel topside equipment to create a safe and
efficient method to assemble the WT in an offshore environment with minimum downtime
for weather.
This paper describes a method to store a multitude of blades on a JU vessel, that fits for both
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of these dominant assembly methods. The rotor is assembled on the offshore location, in a
lower elevation than the top of the WT tower, by using either of these two methods.
Although a number of other assembly methods exists, like the bunny ear method, harbour
assembly and erect/ slanted transportation for offshore installation, the two above described
methods are the dominant, and proven. At the same time, it is a growing perception in the
industry, that it must be higher focus on safe lifting operations, to improve the accident track
record of the industry. As the industry grows with increasing WT sizes, it is important to
develop generally accepted methods. The main challenge when developing improved
assembly methods for more harsh weather, is the need to slightly change or re- certify lifting
points on the various WT parts.
BLADE RACKING AND WT ROTOR ASSEMBLY
An assembled WT rotor occupies a large volume when stored on a vessel. Furthermore, due
to its large diameter up to 150 m for 7-10 MW turbines, it is difficult to sail such rotors out of
most harbours on a vessel. Special transportation solutions may be developed, but such
vessels often lack the flexibility to be used for other offshore operations, and are therefore a
commercial risk for the owners. When blades are stored aside each other, aligned in parallel,
they occupy far less total volume. This paper shows an elevated racking solution with blades
stored athwart the vessel. The functional idea is to design a racking and crane solution with
minimal distance between blade storage position and assembled rotor position, and to guide
all hanging, swinging loads so high uptime for wind can be achieved. The practical application
of this idea must include easy human access to all points of operation and maintenance, so
high safety and efficiency is achieved.
Crane and gripper used for blade assembly to a rotor

Blades are relatively lightweight compared to nacelles and tower sections. They have a high
wind catching area/ weight ratio, due to their intended use, meaning even low wind speeds
will cause large side forces causing the blade to swing if freely suspended. A governing
principle to enable safe blade handling, is to use a Knuckle Boom Crane (KBC) with a wrist
mounted gripper. This is a proven crane solution used in offshore drilling operations, which
is certified for handling tubulars in severe windy weather, like a storm. The key is to avoid
using a standard lattice boom crane with hook suspended from a hoist wire, as this creates
swinging motion of the blade. Use of horizontal tugger winches to control those motions
create dangerous operations, or time consuming operations.
The yoke is bolted to the native gripper supplied from the blade supplier, if available, or the
yoke carries two canvas belts with remote quick release system (when unloaded).
This KBC wrist comes with a hydraulic/ electric swivel for power and signals, and a powered
slew motion so the blade rotation can be controlled in the horizontal plane (to counteract
wrist torque created by the wind). The wrist mechanism is like a universal joint with one or
two brakes for the two additional tilt motions, and is preloaded by gravity so the blade tilt is
always hanging straight down when the brake is off. Since the pivoting point is close to the
blade, and gravity is preloading against wind forces, this freedom of motion is not severely
affecting the blade motion in strong wind, besides, some freedom of motion is necessary
when picking and installing the blade. The blade gripper typically comes with a canvas belt
tension control so the blade pitch can be regulated prior to inserting the blade into its hub
location.
The yoke can also be equipped with blade longitudinal motion, to ease the blade insert
operation, or to intentionally tilt up or down the blade when matching its hub flange with the
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hub orientation. This type of gripper and its motion control follows the same design
principles like tubular grippers used for oil drilling rigs.
Dependent on the nacelle and hub technology provided by the WT provider, hub pitch and
hub rotation may be remotely controlled from the nacelle, as a trade off instead of providing
blade pitch and blade longitudinal motion+tilt to achieve the same from the KBC, when
matching the blade bolt pattern and the hub end flange.
Blade handling in the harbour
In order to reduce loading time for the vessel in the harbour, blades should be handled 3 and
3 in a common fixture from quayside to the vessel racking system, see below picture. Since
blades are stacked high on large vessels, it is important to have a safe stacking principle to
avoid dropped objects and other dangerous handling situations.
Each blade comes from the factor in a root end cradle and a tip end cradle, stackable similar
as ISO containers, or similar system. These cradles are lifted by use of a spreader bar and
two frames suiting triple blades, in the harbour. Since blades are matched in the factory, the
blades belonging to the same WT must be handled together. If any blade shows or develops
a failure during the offshore assembly, all blades in the set must be set aside and brought
onshore for warranty work. This is an important functional requirement for a blade
racking system.
Blade Cradle handling in Frames
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The cradles supplied from the blade manufacturer, should fit into triple frames with
walkways, which can be stacked on the vessel. It is an advantage to split such access
equipment functionally apart from the cradles, to reduce the amount of harbour work when
preparing the cradles for next operation (either go offshore, or return to factory). For general
info, such cradles may be 2-3 m high and wide, or more, and heavy, due to the size of the
blades. There has been accidents when handling empty cradles; for example, to lay down the
cradle after lifting off the blade, may be tricky if not prepared properly.
Blade storage in racks on the vessel
The triple blade frames fit into slots in a blade racking system on the vessel. Note that the
rack has ladders and walkways available to all areas of human access, i.e. those points where
the blades are bolted or suspended into the cradles.
Note also the elevated position of the blades, which is necessary due to the next step in the
installation process, when assembling the rotor from 3 single blades. The rotor can be
assembled to the hub in vertical or horizontal orientation. In either case, the hub must be
elevated so the rotor can index for each new blade to be added from the same position by
use of the KBC. See later chapter about rotor indexing.
Optional: Nacelle storage under the blade rack

Due to the functional requirement to elevate the blade rack, see above, it is available deck
space under the blade rack. One possible use of this area, is to put the nacelles on a skidding
track under here. Skidding tractors, similar as in use for BOP handling on oil drilling rigs, may
be used to pull or push the nacelles and its skidbases to the outside of the rack, available for
crane access.
Nacelles can be loaded into this deck space from above, when in the harbour, prior to the
blades are stored in the rack above. During offshore assembly of turbines, one and one
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nacelle is pulled out by use of hydraulic driven tractors. The tracks are elevated from the
main deck, so these profiles can be moved, and width can be adjusted when rearranging for
another vendors nacelle.
Cherry picker with manriding basket for blade gripper access

In order to reach to the two canvas belts hanging down from the blade gripper, prior to
wrapping them around the blade, it is necessary to provide human access to pick up the
canvas and pull it up into the tensioning system. See the following picture showing two
manriding baskets mounted on telescopic cherry pickers. The blades are always picked in the
same sequence, so the baskets move above the next level of blades. Other access systems
are also possible.
The canvas belts shown have a certified automatic release system, working only when the
belt tension is nil, to avoid accidentally dropping the blades. The gripper is released after the
blade has been safely bolted to the hub.
Rotor assembly in low elevation
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The rotor assembly in a low elevation requires a stable platform in order to enable the hub
rotation, by use of a dedicated fixture with a rotation device, or by use of hub turning device
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from the WT supplier. Various solutions to support the hub are shown. It is necessary to give
access for human operators inside the hub, in order to attach nuts to threaded bolts
protruding from the blade flange (common design detail for most blade suppliers).
WT ROTOR INSTALLATION, LAST STEP IN SEQUENCE
This paper has described how rotors can be safely assembled in a reduced elevation on an
offshore JU in high wind speeds, typically up to 12- 15 m/sec or more, depending on local
strength of WT parts and their lifting points. Cranes may be certified up to 20 m/sec. The
vessel topside equipment involves fixtures or a mast structure attaching the hub to a stable
point, to include a device for local rotation, such that the rotor can swing around without
hitting other objects like the sea or the JU legs, and such that human operators can safely
enter inside the nacelle or hub. The final movement of the rotor to the top of the WT can be
enabled by a crane, or by using a mast with winches for guided hoisting, and a cantilever
extension system to achieve position control. See below for details.
The shown mast sits on a cantilever able to extend out above the sea, close to the
foundation. The mast has transverse movement, enabling an accurate positioning of the
rotor prior to attachment to the nacelle. The mast has tugger winches at various elevations,
used to guide the rotor to avoid swinging motion during the installation. At two distinct
elevations, it is shown driven forks that engage with the torque motor which rotates the
rotor. These forks extend and provide a stable support for the rotor during single blade
installation, and when doing the final turning to align the rotor lifting tool so one blade is
pointing vertically down.
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The vessel owners operating the WT installation vessel, faces many challenges when ordering
newbuilds. One major concern is of course the cyclical nature of a wind energy business still
in its infancy years, uncertainty created by WT technology innovation, coupled to many years
delivery time for JUs. This will drive the owner building a vessel on speculation, to configure
the cranes creating high flexibility, fitting also other offshore applications. For the wind farm
owner, not in the business of operating or owning vessels, he wants to rent an installation
vessel with minimum downtime due to weather, and have a deck load capacity and space
fitting the chosen WT supplier he has contracted for his wind farm. A major efficiency and
safety factor for WT assembly, consuming a lot of deck space, is rotor and blade handling.
Blades are huge, up to 75 m long or more for 5- 10 MW generators, and they are handled
from the factory via the road and harbour, to the offshore location, in frames or cradles. This
paper describes a generalized and safe way of racking these blades in elevated magazines
(racks) on the JU main deck, fitting a crane with blade gripper, and how to safely manage the
harbour loading process, the offshore assembly process, and the harbour unloading of
empty blade cradles.
Wind turbine vendors should certify their standard lifting points to withstand such higher
wind speeds, and such combined lifts as here shown. The advantage of the described
methods are that it is used a standard arrangement of lifting points, and standard sequence
for the assembly of the turbine. The vessel size fits large 5-10 MW turbines, and the hull can
carry a high number of wind turbines, favouring remote installation sites far from the
harbour.
CONCLUSION
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It is shown how offshore wind turbines can be installed in high wind speeds, by using the
Principle of Horizontal Guiding during all lifting operations. The vessels topside equipment is
designed for safe use by human operators, to all areas requiring access.
The main enabler of this principle is to use a Knuckle Boom Crane to lift blades, to provide
horizontal guiding from the wrist of the crane, so high wind speed does not cause downtime.
An affordable cranes limited reach envelope in turn leads to the use of an elevated rack for
storing single blades, so blades can be assembled to rotors in a lower elevation than the top
of the wind turbine. The final enabler for the last step of the installation process, in order to
close the circle and always follow the principle of horizontal guiding, is to use a cantilever and
mast when bringing the nacelle with the rotor on top of the WT tower.
It is shown three alternative layouts fitting the same blade rack and crane layout, depending
on how windy the final wind park destination is, and depending on the rotor tilting and
nacelle hub turning technology available from the turbine supplier. For the benign
installation weather case, a simple rotor turning device can be used, using a lattice boom
crane for the final rotor handling to the top of the tower. For the more windy weather
locations, it is shown how a cantilever with a transverse skidding mast and a track with a
guide dolly, can be used to guide the nacelle and rotor, or the hub/ rotor alone.
It is recommended to plan future large wind parks using such installation techniques. For the
wind park owner, prior to the ordering of new turbines, it should be planned vessel and
assembly method, so the turbines lifting points including blade cradle interfaces, and hub
turning technology, can be planned in detail. This is necessary in order to minimize downtime
due to weather during the installation period, and accurately predict overall installation cost.
REFERENCES
Foo Kok Seng, Mortensen Asbjorn, Wong Toh Tung, King Yeong Jin: Offshore Wind Turbine
Installer, KOMtech Technology Review 2010, pp 5-17
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Safe Working Environment when Loading and Installing

Safe Working Environment when Loading and Installing

Rotors are typically assembled in two ways:

BLADE RACKING AND WT ROTOR ASSEMBLY

Crane and gripper used for blade assembly to a rotor

Optional: Nacelle storage under the blade rack

Cherry picker with manriding basket for blade gripper access

< Back | Top

Carbon Capture and storage

WILL PUBLISH THEM FOR YOU!

Recycling and waste management

Wave and tidal

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