Posted on January 21, 2021
TECO Maritime Group recently partnered with Victaulic to complete a Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS) installation on a 100m, 8,186 GT, flat top barge. The barge was towed to Gdansk, Poland, to carry out the installation alongside a mooring quay. The location of this vessel made installation and maintenance challenging, as the area lacked supplies, storage, working space, and proper disposal facilities.
The BWTS installation called for DN65, DN150, and DN500 galvanized pipe to be installed within the existing framework of the vessel. To avoid added installation time by fabricating the pipes on-site and sending them for galvanizing, Blom Maritime 3D scanned the barge and accurately designed the system. The pipe spools were then prefabricated by BLRT Group within their fabrication shop with dimensional control from TECO. All the pipes could then be reliably installed with ease, with any inaccuracies compensated for by the Victaulic flexible couplings.
TECO used a combination of prefabricated pipe spools and on-site coupling connections to complete the BWTS installation. The Victaulic system installed required no hot works or galvanization on-site, provided unmatched flexibility, and enabled a faster installation than could have been realized with a welded system.
“The use of Victaulic combined with prefabrication gave us great flexibility in the installation and has saved us time in many places where we would have had to weld and galvanize during installation,” noted Henry Kemble-Clarkson, Director of Installation at TECO. “On this installation, the use of Victaulic and prefabrication has shown to fit our needs.”
Along with increased safety and speed, TECO noted that Victaulic grooved mechanical joints were more cost-effective when compared to both flanging and welding as they required considerably less labor throughout the BWTS installation.
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