In a unique case study, Thunder Cranes has explained how it provided lifting support for coiled tubing operations in offshore Dubai, UAE, with cranes designed for portable use and ease of assembly & disassembly on offshore installations.
During planning for the coiled tubing operations it was determined that there was insufficient space to accommodate all of the coiled tubing equipment on the platform deck that was located directly over the wells identified for intervention.
As a result Thunder Cranes needed to make use of an adjacent platform, located 50 feet away, and so the company designed a lifting plan using two cranes and both platforms to carry out the lifting support required for the project.
For the purposes of the case study, they were named "Platform A" and "Platform B" and the company provided a summary of the steps carried out:
• Using the existing platform jib crane Thunder Cranes lifted the component parts of the 20 ton crane (TC20) from supply vessel to Platform A.
• Once TC20 was rigged up and load tested it then lifted the component parts of the 90 ton crane (TC90) from supply vessel to Platform A.
• After the TC90 was rigged up it rigged down the TC20 and lifted all of the TC20 components from Platform A to Platform B.
• TC20 was then rigged up on Platform B.
• TC90 was able to pick up the coiled tubing reel, with a long enough boom to be able to hook to the coiled tubing pipe and pull it over from one platform to another to be run through the injector.
• Over on platform A, working in tandem with the TC90, the TC20 lifted, rigged up, and helped support the coiled tubing injector.
In the case, the company rigged up and load tested two days within seven days thank to the TC clamping method, the modular design of the cranes, and the highly experienced staff.
In the project, TC20 and TC90 cranes enabled the coiled tubing work to begin ahead of schedule and was a safe & cost effective solution compared to alternative methods.
