Ballast pump system

TME has developed a system in close cooperation with Boskalis to pump ballast material. This system has been developed for ballasting an HVDC platform that is built for an offshore wind farm.

For this project the Rockpiper from Boskalis is equipped with the ballast pump system. Both cargo holds of the Rockpiper are used for storing the ballast material. To get the material from the front cargo area to the rear, a transport system was laid through the fallpipe tower. The innovative fluidization system is fed from the rear cargo area.

The fluidization system has been extensively tested by Boskalis for the project. To get enough water in the fluidization system a separate pump system has been installed, which pumps the water directly into the system from the sea. The fluidized ballast material is pumped with a hose system to the unit to be ballasted. To remain at a safe distance from the unit to be ballasted, approximately 70 meters of floating hose was needed. With an ingenious hose coupling system, the hoses could be connected to each other in a safe and simple way and be connected to the system.

The project consisted of a completely separately operating system, including all required operating units and work platforms. The whole has been extensively tested beforehand and installed on the Rockpiper in a few weeks.