HydrauRent for flexibility and cost savings

Hydraulic capacity to order

The Ampelmann makes transferring from a ship to an offshore structure as easy as crossing the road. HydrauRent is helping to put this statement into practice.

When working in the offshore sector, personnel routinely have to be transferred – usually in rough weather conditions – to structures at sea such as drilling rigs and wind turbines. The unpredictability of the weather and the wild nature of the sea severely limit transport options. People are transferred by helicopter or from ships using a fixed gangway. The Ampelmann is a platform with a gangway that is stable and does not move. Even in high wave conditions, personnel can be transferred without a hitch and, above all, safely from ship to offshore structure.

Flying carpet above the sea

The Ampelmann Company is headed by Jan van der Tempel, who explains the principle behind the Ampelmann: “We actually based our design on the principle used in flight simulators, which use six cylinders to simulate movement. We, on the other hand, use these six cylinders to cancel out fluctuations. You could say we create a flying carpet above the sea. Accurate, fast-response sensors measure the movement of the ship and a specially designed computer program adjusts the length of each cylinder to compensate for the movement. The powerpacks we use for this are leased from HydrauRent.”

The Ampelmann makes transferring from a ship to an offshore structure as easy as crossing the road. HydrauRent is helping to put this statement into practice.

Total Cost of Ownership

The ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ is playing an increasingly important role in the offshore sector. It is a concept of considerable interest when it comes to investing in hydraulic equipment too. Hydraulic equipment is often used just once or on a project basis, while the cost of commissioning, repairs and maintenance are not always clear. In many cases this makes leasing hydraulic capacity as a temporary replacement or as extra capacity an attractive alternative. Hydrauvision offers this alternative in the form of HydrauRent: extra customised hydraulic capacity any time, any place.

The experience of killing a whole flock of birds with one stone by leasing their hydraulics is shared by the Ampelmann Company. Jan van der Tempel: “Leasing powerpacks gives us a lot of flexibility. Based on HydrauRent’s modular concept, we lease exactly the capacity we need.” The modular concept consists of easily manageable half 10-foot containers housing customised hydraulic modules of up to 200 kW. Linking modules together gives a maximum rating of 800 kW within the dimensions of a 20-foot container. “We don’t need to make any expensive investments or worry about delivery times, maintenance and repair. HydrauRent also frees us from the problems of storage, regular inspection and certification.”

The Ampelmann project and its current operation is a good example of the way in which project developers or manufacturers can collaborate with their supplier. It produces a made-to-measure package – in this case a hydraulic package – that is also suitable for a wide range of other applications.

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HydrauRent

HydrauRent has other leasing solutions besides HydrauPack. Under the name HydrauSupport, for example, hydraulic filtration units for cleaning hydraulic oil or a dewatering and degassing unit can be supplied. If required, an ATEX version of the latter can be leased for use in explosion-sensitive environments. A rinsing unit for cleaning hydraulic systems can also be supplied very quickly, while for handpumps and jacks the HydrauTool in various sizes with accompanying quick action couplings and manifolds can be leased. Hydraulic winches are also available under the name HydrauWinch. The range covers standard hydraulic winches, CT winches and hoisting winches, which caters for most winch requirements.