Gearboxes speed deployment of containment booms

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 14, 2003

Oil spill containment booms manufactured by Vikoma International rely on a high-torque low-weight planetary gearbox and hydraulic motor package for their fast deployment.

Oil spills are a consequence of the need to drill for oil, and of the requirement to transport crude vast distances across the world.

When spills occur, the containment booms manufactured by world leader, Vikoma International, are vital to prevent crippling environmental damage.

Exceptionally mobile, the booms rely on a high-torque low-weight planetary gearbox and hydraulic motor package from Brevini for their fast deployment.

Vikoma International is the world leader in providing equipment to handle oil spills, with over 25 years experience in all parts of the world - including particularly environmentally sensitive areas such as Alaska and the Black Sea region.

The company's boom, skimming and recovery equipment is used wherever oil presents a threat to the environment, be it from fixed or floating oil platforms or from tanker accidents at sea.

Recently, port authorities across the world have realised the potential of Vikoma's equipment to minimise disruption to shipping traffic as a result of local oil spills.

Because the key to dealing with oil spills is to be able to deploy equipment quickly, Vikoma ensures that its designs are as mobile and as weight efficient as possible.

Although at the top of its market, the company is always looking for ways to achieve improvements in both of these key areas.

As part of this process, Vikoma recently replaced the bulky and heavy hydraulic primary drive motor on its boom deployment system with a much more compact and lightweight transmission package based on Brevini's high-torque planetary reduction gearboxes.

Brevini gearboxes are used in many marine applications due to their reliability and their ability to provide high torque output from a small physical envelope.

Compared to equivalent conventional gearboxes, Brevini planetaries can be half the size, yet transmit the same or higher levels of torque.

They also reduce weight by as much as 60% and fit where other gearboxes will not, which means easier installation and neater design solutions.

The other major benefit of the Brevini equipment for Vikoma is the suitability of the package for use in remote and arduous environments where hydraulic oil contamination is quite common.

Previously, when direct drive radial piston motors were employed, any motor failures as a result of contamination were expensive, as the motors were difficult to replace due to their sheer size.

This is not the case with the Brevini system, which employs a much smaller hydraulic motor; a replacement for which can easily be held in stock.

Furthermore, if the motor does fail the process of replacing it is both quicker and cheaper because the Brevini gearbox remains attached to the boom drive bulkhead, allowing the motor to be removed without disturbing the transmission.

Adding to the size, weight and installation benefits of Brevini's gearbox system are further advantages in terms overall cost and flexibility of speed control.

The overall cost advantage results because "gears are cheaper than displacement", meaning that a smaller motor and gears always provides a less costly solution when compared to a larger displacement hydraulic motor operating in direct drive mode.

As far as speed control is concerned, radial piston motors have a limited effective speed range, restricting the efficiency of their operating envelope.

Replacing them with geared down package driven by a smaller high speed hydraulic motor provides a wider working envelope; one that offers a wider speed range and optimised efficiency.

The global nature of Brevini's business means that the company is able to support Vikoma International's worldwide activities with a highly effective pre and after-sales operation, providing service and spare parts throughout the world.

This ensures that any servicing or maintenance of equipment can be carried out quickly; minimising the time that equipment is out of service.