WEG supplied Paragon with 58 highly reliable and energy efficient W22 motors to ensure a smooth and safe jackup process even in aggressive marine environments.<\/p>\n
Putting a jackup rig into place is an extremely delicate operation and even minor jacking-system failures can lead to structural collapse. Thus, it is vital to ensure that the motors responsible for driving the rig\u2019s legs are highly reliable and able to withstand significant loads without any variations in current.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe electrical equipment of the B391 rig is mainly US-made and built to National Electrical Manufacturers\u2019 Association (NEMA) standards. Thus, to replace our old equipment as quickly as possible, we needed the support of a global manufacturer with a stock of NEMA motors close to our European facility in the Netherlands,\u201d comments Duncan Smith, Electrical Superintendent at Paragon Offshore. \u201cHaving previously worked with WEG, we were fully aware of the company\u2019s global presence and excellent customer service. With this in mind, we chose WEG for its unique ability to supply us with equipment to our specifications in a limited amount of time, which enabled us to keep our downtimes to a minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n
To ensure that all specifications were met, WEG inspected the old motor equipment in its workshop facilities in Belgium while the rig was docked in the Keppel Verolme dry dock in the Netherlands. Ensuring that all 58 motors had the same characteristics \u2013 in terms of torque and performance \u2013 was one of the key challenges that WEG was faced with.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe jackup process is absolutely critical and if motors don\u2019t run at the same speed allowing for variations in current or \u2013 even worse \u2013 one of the motors fails, the rig can tilt with catastrophic results,\u201d explained Ademar Welter J\u00fanior, Sales & Project Engineer, WEG Netherlands. \u201cThanks to experience in developing solutions for oil & gas and marine applications worldwide, we were able to supply Paragon with 58 identical W22 NEMA motors \u2013 18 for each leg and four spare \u2013 with the exact same torque and performance characteristics. These motors have been designed to offer enhanced reliability and withstand the rig\u2019s load with no variations in current, thus ensuring a smooth jackup process.\u201d<\/p>\n
A compact and sturdy cast iron three-phase motor, the W22 meets the requirements of the most demanding applications. Its innovative stainless steel tubular cooling system provides optimal air flow and delivers maximum cooling capacity in the stator, rotor, and critical components such as bearings, ensuring enhanced reliability and energy efficiency up to IE4 levels. Hot spots are also avoided by ensuring uniform temperature distribution in the entire frame, therefore offering highly reliable performance over a long service life.<\/p>\n
Additionally, to ensure a long life span in the adverse North Sea environment, WEG adapted its W22 motors to include special features for use in marine applications. The motors were equipped with an exclusive bearing sealing system to extend lifetime even in aggressive marine environments. Stainless steel and special painting were also used to provide enhanced corrosion resistance.<\/p>\n
Thanks to WEG\u2019s support, Paragon Offshore has now successfully placed the B391 rig in the North Sea off the Humberside\u2019s coast (UK). \u201cWEG\u2019s W22 motors are sturdy and reliable and have enabled us to ensure safe jackup operations. We\u2019re expecting long service life and low maintenance costs,\u201d added Duncan. \u201cWith a flexible team, facilities across Europe and a viable stock of spare parts, WEG is ideally positioned to provide Paragon Offshore with that responsive and dedicated support that the company requires.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Jake Frith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reliability is key to ensuring the success of jackup operations. With this in mind, leading provider of offshore drilling units Paragon Offshore turned to global drive technology manufacturer WEG to replace the electric motors driving its B391 jackup rig in the North Sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-3060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-power-propulsion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3062,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060\/revisions\/3062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3060"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maritimejournal.com\/get-set-for-workboat-2050\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=3060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}