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Case Studies
Learn shrink wrap skills from the experts. If you can’t find the answer you need, feel free to get in touch.
Huge shrink wrapped modules
About This Project The Evaporator D project at Sellafield is currently the largest nuclear project in the United Kingdom. The ‘Evap D’ facility, once completed in 2016, will treat liquid radioactive waste so that it can be vitrified ready for disposal. Essentially Evap D acts like a giant kettle, reducing the volume of liquid nuclear waste before it is turned into glass and stored. The £300 million contract for the construction of the Evap D facility was awarded to Costain who used innovative off site construction techniques to pre fabricate the facility as 11 huge ‘modules’ at a specially adapted 5 acre factory site near Ellesmere Port in the North West of England. This was the first use of modular construction for a process plant at the Sellafield site. The construction of the eleven Evap D modules represented a complex engineering challenge. The largest of the modules, ‘Module 920’ weighs 525 tonnes and is 27 metres long, 7 metres wide and 12 metres high. In Module 920 alone there is over 5000 metres of high integrity stainless steel pipework constructed to the most exacting nuclear industry standards. The project logistics provided an additional challenge. How could such huge modules be completely protected against weather damage during the 65 mile journey by road & sea from the manufacturing facility to the construction site? Any salt water entering the modules and into the many stainless steel pipes & welds that the modules contained could have serious implications for the future safe operation of the nuclear facility and delay this high profile construction project for many months. Therefore, a temporary sheeting solution was needed that guaranteed, whatever weather conditions were experienced, it would not fail. Shrink Wrap Covers After months of tests, including some on site demonstrations of the industrial shrink wrap process, Costain and construction partners Interserve chose a shrink wrap covering as their preferred transport protection solution. However, as the Evap D modules did not have any solid sides, there was concern that, even after heat shrinking tightly, high winds could push the shrink wrap into large ‘voids’ behind the sheeting and cause damage. The customer suggested something never tried before which was to cover the entire Evap D module in a HDPE plastic mesh to form a ‘support structure’ beneath the shrink wrap. A geotechnical mesh product that had been designed for installing underground to stabilise soil was hung around the module and secured to the module using a woven strapping. Next, working from the outside, using ‘cherry pickers’, 12 metre wide sheets of 300 micron thick shrink wrap sheeting were hung and heat welded together before being shrunk ‘drum tight’. The final step, to make the shrink wrap cover ‘bomb proof’, and to provide the 100% guaranteed weatherproof protection that this project required from the temporary sheeting was to make a small hole in the shrink wrap sheeting every 1 square metre and pass a velcro tie through the shrink wrap and around the mesh. (The hole was later taped to maintain a weatherproof seal). It was felt, that with the shrink wrap shrunk tight AND tied back to the supporting mesh every 1 square metre this was the most robust solution that could be designed. Project benefits from shrink wrap Heat shrunk ‘drum tight’ – very resistant to damage from high winds. Heat sealed joints between sheets created a completely weather tight, full encapsulation of each module. Smart & professional appearance for a high profile project. Easy to remove in sections at the construction site & 100% recyclable. Lessons Learnt The final module was delivered from Ellesmere Port to Sellafield by specialist barge ‘Terra Marique’ in September 2013. After shrink wrapping 11 modules, over a 2 year period, the weather proofing of the giant modules using shrink wrap sheeting was a 100% success, with no sheeting failures or water ingress.
Modular Building Transport Bags – Shropshire
Your browser does not support the video tag. Modular Building Transport Bags – The Brief Premier Manufacturing, established in 1990, are a leading UK ‘off site’ manufacturer of modular buildings and extensions for residential and commercial applications. They use modular building transport bags to ensure that their buildings reach the construction site and client in good condition. Previously, the team at Premier had used a type of heavy weight, re-usable cover to protect modules during road transport. Whilst these covers had worked OK, the challenge with this type of cover bag is that it is very difficult to get it to fit really tightly around the module or pod. As it travels down the road, the cover tends to flap and move and this can start to rub against finished surfaces of the module. For this contract, the modules had a rendered external finish which might be chafed and damaged by a loose fitting bag. In addition, a re-usable modular building transport bag needs to be returned after each use and over time and it will require occasional repairs and cleaning. For a large contract, where there could be dozens of covers ‘in the system’ keeping up with this maintenance can be a challenge. When Premier needed to ensure that hundreds of modular buildings for a major client in London reached their destination clean and dry after a 150 mile / 3 hour trip from the manufacturing facility in Shropshire they contacted us to enquire about our industrial shrink wrap covers. Shrink film is typically supply on large ‘industrial sized’ rolls. However, after speaking with Premier and finding out a little more about their objectives, we suggested that because of the number of modules that needed to be packaged and because the modules were relatively small and mostly consistently sized, a pre-made custom sized shrink to fit bag might be more cost effective and easier to install. This short ‘case study’ describes how we worked with Premier to specify and test which type of modular building or pod cover would work best for them. Modular Building Transport Covers – What are the options? For many manufacturers, a custom made re-usable type of transport cover is a good option. There are some great covers on the market, which are normally made from a heavy weight tarpaulin type material and come in a variety of designs. Some are made just to fit open sides of modules whilst others are designed to encapsulate the entire module, (including roof and sides.) At Rhino we specialise in a different kind of covering for modules. All our products are based around our industrial and construction grade shrink wrap sheeting and they are designed to be used once and then recycled. Shrink wrap sheeting provides a taught, shrink to fit covering and because it is significantly lighter than a tarpaulin type cover it is particularly suited to projects where complete encapsulation of the modular building or pod is required because it can easily be lifted over the module roof. When using shrink wrap you have two options / approaches. One option is to use sheeting which is supplied on a roll. The advantage of this is that rolls are typically available ‘off the shelf’ in a range of standard sizes. At Rhino we stock films from 7m to 16m wide and from 190 to 500 microns thickness. The sheeting is unfolded over the roof of the module and then is out and welded ‘in situ’. This is ideal if there is just the occasional module which needs covering or the modules which need covering vary in size and shape. Our own installation teams will always use shrink wrap supplied by the roll when carrying out shrink wrap projects on customer sites. When shrink wrapping a modular building, the process is very similar to wrapping a birthday present! You need to ensure that there is enough material to be folded around the each end of the module and overlap. However, in a manufacturing environment, where the covers will be fitted by operatives who are not ‘professional shrink wrappers’ then using shrink wrap straight from the roll can be a bit ‘hit and miss’. The process may take longer than expected, the results may be inconsistent from module to module and there may be a fair bit of wastage as it can be difficult to judge just how much extra shrink wrap to allow to cover the ends. So, if the modules being shipped have a consistent size then a shrink tight modular building transport bag can be a better option. Modular Building Transport Bags – Specification Process Specifying shrink to fit modular building transport bags is a fairly straightforward process. After an initial conversation with Premier we were able to get the finished dimensions of the modules they wished to protect. We then proceeded to make an sample bag which we took to the off site manufacturing facility to demonstrate the installation process. These first modules were shipped to the construction set and received positive feedback. For one of the modules we had covered, the bag had been a little too tight to fit easily so we manufactured a second round of samples and once again travelled to the customer site in order to ensure that the fit was right and that Premier’s operatives were familiar with the heat shrink process. Once all parties were happy, we were able to proceed with a production order of a sufficient quantity of bags to meet the contract. Because Premier needed to start and protect modules immediately we were able to provide them with a roll of our 12m (40′) x 50m (164′) shrink wrap film to shrink wrap modules which were shipping before the bags were ready. Modular Building Transport Bags – Installation Process Remember, for an overview of the installation process please watch the ‘modular building transport bags’ video at the top of this page. Padding Out This is not required for every type of module but if there are any very sharp edges these need to be padded out. Installation of Strapping Support For modules with solid sides this will not be required. However, for large modules that have large open areas, we recommend running a woven strapping or similar at 2-3m intervals. When this strapping is tensioned it provides a support structure for the shrink wrap cover. Installation of Shrink Wrap Bag The shrink wrap modular building transport bag is unwrapped and unfolded over the top and down the sides of the module. Secure Shrink Wrap Bag Around Bottom of Module To get the tightest possible finish to any shrink wrap covering it is recommended that the cover / bag is secured around the bottom of the module or pod. Without this, during the heat shrink process the cover will have a tendency to ride up the sides of the module and it will nit have the same tightness or professional looking finish to the cover – there will always be wrinkles and creases. A quick way to secure the cover around the bottom of the module is to use wooden batten, however, for some modules this will not be possible and so an alternative technique is to run a band of strapping around the module. The strapping is then tensioned and the bag is folded around the strapping and heat welded to itself. For some modules that require complete encapsulation, even underneath, we lay a shrink wrap footprint on the ground on to which the module is lifted. This footprint is designed to be larger than the module by approx. 500mm on all four sides. The footprint is folded up on to the side of the module and then joined to the top covering by heat welding the two parts of the cover together. This method of complete encapsulation is much easier than it sounds and is very robust – ideal for modules which will be transported long distances. Heat Seal Ends Modular Building Transport bags may be manufactured in a number of ways. Our favoured technique is to use a side weld technique as this keeps production costs low. The only difference in a side weld cover as compared to a more costly ‘block bottom’ cover is that after fitting the bag will have a triangular shaped ‘ear’ at each end of the module which needs to be heat sealed back to the cover. This is quick and easy to achieve using a propane gas hot air gun. Heat Shrink The final stage of the shrink wrap installation process is to use our propane gas hot air tools to heat shrink the sheeting ‘drum tight’ over the entire surface of module using propane to create a smooth and tight finish. Install Zipped Access Doors Sometimes it can be useful to gain access to the module after it has been shrink wrapped, perhaps to carry out last minute work or inspections. In this case, it is possible to tape on a zipped access door. Thank you for taking the time to read this case study. Please do contact us with your questions or comments. We look forward to hearing from you.
Industrial Covers For Line Pipe
TEMPORARY ROOF FOR LISTED BUILDING IN STAFFORDSHIRE This case study will give you some insights into how the team at Rhino Shrink Wrap specify and install large industrial covers, including a step by step description of the method by which we installed a 1224 square metre (13,175 square feet) shrink wrap cover to encapsulate and protect a large stack of line pipe in December 2015. The Problem In November 2015, we were contacted by South Stream Transport BV who were looking to find the best way of covering stacks of subsea line pipe, that were being stored ashore awaiting installation. South Stream Transport are an offshore pipeline company based in The Netherlands. Working with Gazprom, South Stream are building ‘TurkStream’, a pipeline under the Black Sea that will connect gas reserves in Russia to the Turkish gas distribution network and so provide energy supplies for Turkey and South-East Europe. Although, line pipe is designed to be a rugged product once installed on the sea bed, engineers from South Stream were concerned that pipe coating could be damaged by long term exposure to UV light during storage ashore. Some kind of covering was required but what type? The customer had of course considered using tarpaulins and had even carried out some trials of large tarps but these had not been 100% successful. Tarpaulins of course can be very useful but for this application they were proving bulky and heavy to lift which made them hard to install and some had been blown off by the wind. A traditional tarpaulin type cover with weights We proposed an industrial covering for the line pipes based around our shrink wrap sheeting rather than tarpaulin for this project based on the following advantages: Shrink wrap sheeting ‘versus’ tarpaulins Robust – A shrink wrap cover will be shrunk ‘as tight as a drum skin’ around the line pipe stacks. This means it is much more robust than traditional tarpaulins which can be difficult to fit tightly. This means it will not flap and ‘self destruct’, even in high winds. Heat sealed joints – A shrink wrap covering is easily joined by heat welding two sections of cover together. This process creates a bonded and weather proof joint as strong as the original shrink wrap material and means that there is no limit to the size of area that can be completely encapsulated. Easy to repair – Because of the heat welding / sealing process, a shrink wrap cover is very easy to repair. Simply take a new section of shrink wrap and heat weld over the damaged area. Versatile – Because a shrink wrap cover is cut and heat welded by the installation team at the location it is required, there is no need to order specific sizes of cover in advance for different sized stacks and there is no need to ensure that a specific cover is used on a specific pipe stack. If the line pipe stack layout changes, this can be taken care of easily within the standard product. 100% Recyclable – Traditional tarpaulins can be difficult to recycle because of their composition, which makes the separation of materials problematic. However, a shrink wrap cover is very easy to remove and is completely recyclable. Because the shrink wrap is manufactured from 100% virgin resins, it is valued by re-processing companies. Typical applications for recycled industrial grade shrink wrap film are HDPE piping and agricultural films such as silage or bale wrap. Our Approach We began by asking engineers for drawings and photographs of some typical line pipe stacks. Then, back at our office in the UK we began to consider the project and our proposal for the product and installation process. We considered the following; How will the industrial covers be secured? When we look at a new application for a shrink wrap covering we need to consider how the sheeting will be held down or secured to whatever it is covering. When the cover is properly locked down into position, the heat shrink process will create a taught and ‘drum tight’ covering. For scaffolding encapsulation, the shrink wrap sheeting is simply overlapped around a horizontal tube or ‘ledger’ and heat welded back on to itself. For large industrial covers, such as these huge modules we wrapped for Interserve it may be possible to bring the shrink wrap completely underneath the object so that it is completely encapsulated. The first line pipe stack to cover was 48m (157′) long x 15m (49′) wide x 4m (13′) high – a total area of around 1224 square metres or 13,175 square feet. This was too large to lift and sheeting could not be slid underneath because the pipes were sitting on long wooden ‘bearers’. We considered running a band of strapping down each 48m side of the line pipe stack which we could overlap the shrink wrap around and heat weld back on to itself but at this length it would have been difficult to tension the strapping sufficiently to stop the cover ‘riding up’ around the pipe when the cover was heat shrunk. The solution was to encapsulate the lowest pipe running along the bottom edge of each stack with band of shrink wrap. This would mean that the top cover could be unfolded along the roof and down the side of each stack and could be then simply be heat welded to the lowest shrink wrapped pipe to lock it into position. The additional benefit of this solution is that it is completely ‘self contained’, i.e. it just needs shrink wrap sheeting and no additional tie downs or weights are required which had typically been used to hold down the more traditional tarpaulins during testing. However, the ends of each stack of pipes presented more of a challenge. The customer wanted to leave the ends of the stacks open which meant that we had to find some way of terminating the shrink wrap cover across the 15m (49′) width of the stack at a height of 4m (13′). To achieve this we installed and tensioned woven strapping. When the shrink wrap sheeting was installed, it was wrapped around this strapping and heat welded to itself to provide an anchoring point. What size and grade of shrink wrap sheeting will work best for industrial covers? We stock rolls of shrink wrap sheeting in a variety of widths from 6m to 16m wide and from 190 microns to 500 microns thickness. However, it is not just a matter of choosing the largest roll size possible. For this project we decided to use a 6m (20′) wide x 25m (82′) long roll of our 300 micron (12 mil) shrink wrap sheeting. This roll weighs 43Kg (95lbs), but whilst it is not exactly ‘lightweight’ is is more manageable than a 16m (52′) x 50m (164′) roll which weighs 163Kg (359lbs). A narrower shrink wrap roll width will often tend to have a much better ‘shrink ratio’ and that was important to us on this project because we wanted the covers to shrink down as tightly as possible around the line pipe stack. A tight covering of any kind will be much less likely to move, rub and flap and consequently will be much less likely to come off in strong winds. The 300 micron (12 mil) grade is probably thicker than many might select for industrial covers but because the covers could be in use for up to 2 years we felt that this would provide better protection than say a 190 micron (8 mil) shrink wrap which is often used for shrink wrapping boats and smaller industrial products during transport and storage. Because the customer wished to leave the ends of the line pipe stacks open, we felt there was a risk, during high winds, of the shrink wrap covering being damaged by being pushed up from the inside. As a ‘belt and braces’ approach we decided to fix straps over the shrink wrap covering which could be ratcheted tight and absorb the additional wind loads resulting from having each end of the cover open to the elements. What will be the installation process? A detailed installation process is outlined in ‘The Shrink Wrap Installation Process’ below. However, with every installation project that we are involved in, it is vital that we can develop and document a safe system of work. With the exception of harnesses, we exclusively use safety equipment manufactured by Spanset in the United Kingdom. For this project in particular we used the Spanset Lightweight Fall Arrestor and the Spanset Recovery Block. The Recovery Block with a 15m line was secured to an overhead crane and used for the installation of the strapping. Once these straps were installed, our installers switched to the Lightweight fall arrestor which has a 3m line under constant tension. The Rhino Shrink Wrap Installation Team carry all necessary certification for the safe installation of industrial grade shrink wrap covers including; Site Supervisor Certification (SSSTS) International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) Pre-fabricated Access Suppliers & Manufacturers Association (PASMA), ‘GOTCHA’ rescue training (Spanset) Competent Persons Inspection (Spanset) Working At Height (Spanset) Emergency First Aid at Work Fire Marshall Certification Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Shrink Wrap Industrial Covers for Line Pipe – The Installation Process Shrink Wrap Process – DAY1 The time scale for this project was tight. We needed to get the first stack covered before the Christmas break. As shrink wrapping is always weather dependant on relatively calm winds and dry conditions we were hoping that the weather would be kind to us! We had shipped a pallet / skid of materials in advance which meant that our 2 man team could fly out as soon as the materials landed and the customer gave us the go ahead. For this project, Kris Martin and Tom Mount from Rhino were selected to carry out the work. Both Kris and Tom have many years experience shrink wrapping scaffolds and general industrial products. After their four hour flight, they picked up their rental car and headed directly to the customer’s site to complete the induction, security checks and get site passes issued in order to get a rapid start to work the following morning. First, the customer wanted to verify that the coating of the line pipe would not be damaged by the heat shrink process so we were requested to undertake a test on a scrap piece of pipe before the full scale covering. The customer first placed temperature indicating strips around the pipe, in locations where the shrink wrap cover would be shrunk and also in locations where the shrink wrap sheeting would be welded together. Once the sheeting was installed, the covering was cut open to reveal that virtually no heat had been transferred through to the coating of the pipe during the shrink wrap process and we were given the all clear to continue with the work. Installing shrink wrap sheeting around bottom pipe Shrink Wrap Process – DAY2 Encapsulate bottom pipe to act as anchor point for cover To begin, the bottom line pipe is encapsulated using a 3m wide strip of Rhino 300 micron shrink wrap film, along the entire 48m length of the bottom pipe on each side of the stack of line pipes. Install woven strapping at pipe ends to act as anchor point for cover Next, woven strapping (3.5 ton break strength) is installed to provide a termination point / ‘perimeter band’ for the top cover at each ‘open pipe end’ of the stack. Install first 6m x 25m shrink wrap sheet across stack The first 6m x 25m cover is unrolled to completely cover a 6m wide strip across the 48m long stack. (This first sheet will cover both the roof and the sides of the line pipe stack.) Heat weld first 6m wide strip The first 6m wide sheet is overlapped to the bottom shrink wrapped line pipe by 30-40cm and the two sections of shrink wrap cover heat welded together at ground level. The first 6m wide sheet is also welded around the tensioned strapping / ‘perimeter band’ installed at the open end of the stack. Install first ratchet straps Strapping is installed at 4m intervals up & over the first 7m wide strip and ratcheted tight. The benefit of this approach is that the work can progress in controlled stages. Even if it became windy before all the strips of shrink wrap sheeting had been installed and heat shrunk, the strapping keeps everything under control. The strapping is terminated / secured at either end by passing around a line pipe. (To secure strapping around line pipe it is necessary to make a small hole in the cover – this hole can then be taped or a patch of shrink wrap cover heat welded over the top). Unfolding and installing the first 6m x 25m roll of shrink wrap sheeting 3 x 6m wide strips of shrink wrap sheeting Shrink Wrap Process – DAY3 Install remaining ratchet straps The next 10 runs of strapping are fixed into position. Kris and Tom switch from the 15m long fall arrest blocks to a 3m long lanyard which will attach to the 3.5 ton tensioned straps. Because the strapping is installed at 4m intervals, this means that it is not possible for an operative working on the top surface of the line pipe stack to reach the edge. Work to fix the cover in areas which are within 2m of the edge of the line pipe stack takes place from within a scissor lift. Install next 6m wide sheets of shrink wrap The 2nd and 3rd shrink wrap rolls rolls are unfolded by the two man team across the top of the line pipe stack and pass under the tensioned strapping previously installed. Join 6m wide strips of shrink wrap by heat welding together The 2nd strip of shrink wrap film is overlapped onto the 1st 6m wide strip by 30-40cm and heat welded to bond the sheets together. It is also welded the shrink wrapped bottom pipe. The 3rd strip of shrink wrap is overlapped onto the 2nd strip by 30-40cm and heat welded to bond the sheets together. It is also welded the shrink wrapped bottom pipe.. Heat shrink cover ‘drum tight’ The 1st 6m wide sheet is now heat shrunk ‘drum tight’ both up the sides and over the roof of the stack. The process is repeated in 6m wide strips until the entire stack has been covered and heat shrunk tight. Shrinking the cover ‘drum tight’ Heat welding overlapping sheets together Heat shrink cover ‘drum tight’ The 1st 6m wide sheet is now heat shrunk ‘drum tight’ both up the sides and over the roof of the stack. The process is repeated in 6m wide strips until the entire stack has been covered and heat shrunk tight. The 1st 6m wide sheet is now heat shrunk ‘drum tight’ both up the sides and over the roof of the stack. The process is repeated in 6m wide strips until the entire stack has been covered and heat shrunk tight. Shrink Wrap Process – DAY4 Install self adhesive weather proof vents The final stage of the process was to install some self adhesive weather proof air vents. These vents allow a cross flow of air beneath the covering and also allow wind that enters the open ends of the stacks to be vented without damaging the cover. For this project we installed one air vent every 25 square metres, both over the top and along the sides of the line pipe stacks. The finished cover Shrink wrap cover after snow Industrial Covers – Challenges Weather – On these large shrink wrap projects that require the work to be carried outside, the weather can be problematic. Light winds are require to shrink the sheeting ‘drum tight’ and where sheets of shrink wrap needed to be heat welded together, this can be difficult if sheets are wet. On this project, it snowed shortly after completion and this put extra pressure on the shrink wrap sheeting where it passed around the top corners of the line pipe stack, causing some splits to appear. It was subsequently decided that we would install a reinforcing patch on the shrink wrap cover in these vulnerable areas and that we would also improve the method of attaching the strapping / perimeter band at the open ends of the stacks. We manufactured a small but robust clamp which we fixed to the bottom row of open line pipe ends (and down each 4m high edge of the stack) at 2 metre intervals. When we passed the strapping through these clamp points it proved to be a much improved method for anchoring the shrink wrap sheeting at the ‘tricky’ pipe ends. Clamps used to hold strapping at open pipe ends of stack At Rhino we don’t automatically assume that a shrink wrap cover is right for everybody or every application. However, if you have found this case study useful and you would like to find out more please call or email us today and one of our friendly and knowledgable team will be happy to help.
Shrink Wrapped Modules – Sellafield
CATEGORY Industrial Covers ABOUT THIS PROJECT Shrink Wrapped Modules – Sellafield The Evaporator D project at Sellafield is currently the largest nuclear project in the United Kingdom. The ‘Evap D’ facility, once completed in 2016, will treat liquid radioactive waste so that it can be vitrified ready for disposal. Essentially Evap D acts like a giant kettle, reducing the volume of liquid nuclear waste before it is turned into glass and stored. The £300 million contract for the construction of the Evap D facility was awarded to Costain who used innovative off site construction techniques to pre fabricate the facility as 11 huge ‘modules’ at a specially adapted 5 acre factory site near Ellesmere Port in the North West of England. This was the first use of modular construction for a process plant at the Sellafield site. The construction of the eleven Evap D modules represented a complex engineering challenge. The largest of the modules, ‘Module 920’ weighs 525 tonnes and is 27 metres long, 7 metres wide and 12 metres high. In Module 920 alone there is over 5000 metres of high integrity stainless steel pipework constructed to the most exacting nuclear industry standards. The project logistics provided an additional challenge. How could such huge modules be completely protected against weather damage during the 65 mile journey by road & sea from the manufacturing facility to the construction site? Any salt water entering the modules and into the many stainless steel pipes & welds that the modules contained could have serious implications for the future safe operation of the nuclear facility and delay this high profile construction project for many months. Therefore, a temporary sheeting solution was needed that guaranteed, whatever weather conditions were experienced, it would not fail. Shrink Wrap Covers After months of tests, including some on site demonstrations of the industrial shrink wrap process, Costain and construction partners Interserve chose a shrink wrap covering as their preferred transport protection solution. However, as the Evap D modules did not have any solid sides, there was concern that, even after heat shrinking tightly, high winds could push the shrink wrap into large ‘voids’ behind the sheeting and cause damage. The customer suggested something never tried before which was to cover the entire Evap D module in a HDPE plastic mesh to form a ‘support structure’ beneath the shrink wrap. A geotechnical mesh product that had been designed for installing underground to stabilise soil was hung around the module and secured to the module using a woven strapping. Next, working from the outside, using ‘cherry pickers’, 12 metre wide sheets of 300 micron thick shrink wrap sheeting were hung and heat welded together before being shrunk ‘drum tight’. The final step, to make the shrink wrap cover ‘bomb proof’, and to provide the 100% guaranteed weatherproof protection that this project required from the temporary sheeting was to make a small hole in the shrink wrap sheeting every 1 square metre and pass a velcro tie through the shrink wrap and around the mesh. (The hole was later taped to maintain a weatherproof seal). It was felt, that with the shrink wrap shrunk tight AND tied back to the supporting mesh every 1 square metre this was the most robust solution that could be designed. Project benefits from shrink wrap Heat shrunk ‘drum tight’ – very resistant to damage from high winds. Heat sealed joints between sheets created a completely weather tight, full encapsulation of each module. Smart & professional appearance for a high profile project. Easy to remove in sections at the construction site & 100% recyclable. Lessons Learnt The final module was delivered from Ellesmere Port to Sellafield by specialist barge ‘Terra Marique’ in September 2013. After shrink wrapping 11 modules, over a 2 year period, the weather proofing of the giant modules using shrink wrap sheeting was a 100% success, with no sheeting failures or water ingress. You can find further information on the Evaporator D Project here; http://www.sellafieldsites.com/toobigforroad/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-24345924
Superyacht Painting Tents
The Brief Shrink wrap sheeting is used in shipyards as a covering for ships and super yachts that are undergoing repair, refit and repainting. A shrink wrap tent allows work to take place in a controlled environment whilst containing dust and overspray from covering vessels located nearby. Paint Shed or Shrink Wrap Painting Tent? In an ideal world, the repainting and refinishing of all ships and superyachts would take place inside a dedicated paint shed. A dedicated building allows for optimum environmental and working conditions. However, it is often not be possible to find a paint shed that is available, or the vessel may may be too large. Even where a dedicated painting facility is available, costs can be high. Over the last decade, scaffolding tents have evolved to overcome some of these limitations with finding dedicated buildings. Once the scaffolding structure has been erected, industrial grade shrink wrap sheeting is used to create a continuously bonded skin around the yacht. The tents are fitted with heaters / air conditioning and powerful extraction systems in order to create the controlled environment required for painting. What are the benefits of shrink wrap yacht tent? Ashore or Afloat – A key benefit of using a shrink wrap tent for yacht painting is that it is possible for the yacht to remain in the water which can save on lifting and slipway / hard standing costs. Robust – A yacht tent may be exposed to high winds. However, because scaffold shrink wrap is shrunk ‘drum tight’ it will not flap or detatch in high winds. Effective containment - Welded joints between individual sheets of shrink wrap scaffold sheeting create highly effective environmental containment and temperature control within the tent. Versatility - Because it is a shrink to fit solution, which is cut and welded ‘in situ’ there is no restriction on the size and shape of the scaffolding structure. The shrink wrap tent may be designed to follow the shape of the yacht. It might look like just any plastic sheeting, but to create a scaffolding enclosure that will perform for the duration of a refit project requires a shrink wrap sheeting that is engineered with specific characteristics. Ask your supplier about; Thickness – Whilst a 200 micron (7 mil) thick film may be good enough for shrink wrapping small boats for transport and storage, for scaffold shrink wrapping you should consider using a shrink wrap film of at least 300 micron (12 mil) thickness. Why? These construction grade films will be stronger and have better resistance to ultra violet light. Flame Retardant - Most shipyards today insist that any temporary sheeting used is flame retardant. Always ensure that the material you are using is marked (printed) as flame retardant including the standard or specification to which it has been tested. Common flame retardant standards used around the world include EN13501 in Europe and NFPA in the USA Ultra Violet Inhibitor - When a shrink wrap sheeting is exposed to sunlight over a long period of time it will begin to break down and become brittle. You should be suspicious of suppliers who claim that a shrink wrap film will have a life span of many years because this suggests that the film is not flame retardant or has minimal flame retardant additives (flame retardant and ultra violet inhibitor additives always compete.) Shrink Ratio - It seems fairly obvious that shrink wrap sheeting should shrink but there can be huge variations in performance between brands. Ask your supplier for a specification sheet and check the shrink ratio. You need a shrink wrap film that has balanced shrinkage. It will not be precisely the same but a shrink ration of around 60/40 is optimum. This will ensure that the sheeting shrinks very tightly around the scaffolding structure. Choosing Your Scaffolding Company Erecting a scaffolding structure around a super yacht is a skilled profession. These are some of the key points to consider when looking for a superyacht scaffold tent. Safety Safety should always come first when erecting and using scaffolding. Whilst basic structures may not require special permits, those that are longer, taller may require that engineering drawings be produced. As a minimum, the scaffolder should complete a detailed risk assessment and method statement prior to work commencing. Training Any scaffolding company should have proper training. Those that are registered with scaffolding bodies in the UK must have this training. Always ensure that you are dealing with a company or individual that has been trained in the proper use of scaffolding. Insurance It is a legal requirement in most countries that any company with employees has employers’ liability insurance. As the person responsible for employing the scaffolding, it is your responsibility to ensure that the company in question has appropriate insurance, Public liability insurance is also a legal requirement, and this ensures that if any damage is done to property or people are injured as a result of the scaffolding company’s work, they are insured to cover the damage. Experience Whilst standard scaffolding construction may be within a companies capability, the completion of marine scaffolding around a ship or superyacht may be considerably more difficult. In these cases, experience counts, and it will be required. Ask for examples of similar jobs undertaken. At Rhino we have worked with many scaffolding companies world-wide who specialise in shipyard work. If you require any assistance call our friendly team today.
Industrial Covers for Pipe Line
In November 2015, we were contacted by South Stream Transport BV who were looking to find the best way of covering stacks of subsea line pipe, that were being stored ashore awaiting installation. South Stream Transport are an offshore pipeline company based in The Netherlands. Working with Gazprom, South Stream are building ‘TurkStream’, a pipeline under the Black Sea that will connect gas reserves in Russia to the Turkish gas distribution network and so provide energy supplies for Turkey and South-East Europe. Although, line pipe is designed to be a rugged product once installed on the sea bed, engineers from South Stream were concerned that pipe coating could be damaged by long term exposure to UV light during storage ashore. Some kind of covering was required but what type? The customer had of course considered using tarpaulins and had even carried out some trials of large tarps but these had not been 100% successful. Tarpaulins of course can be very useful but for this application they were proving bulky and heavy to lift which made them hard to install and some had been blown off by the wind. Why use shrink wrap sheeting ‘versus’ tarpaulins Robust – A shrink wrap cover will be shrunk ‘as tight as a drum skin’ around the line pipe stacks. This means it is much more robust than traditional tarpaulins which can be difficult to fit tightly. This means it will not flap and ‘self destruct’, even in high winds. Heat sealed joints – A shrink wrap covering is easily joined by heat welding two sections of cover together. This process creates a bonded and weather proof joint as strong as the original shrink wrap material and means that there is no limit to the size of area that can be completely encapsulated. Easy to repair – Because of the heat welding / sealing process, a shrink wrap cover is very easy to repair. Simply take a new section of shrink wrap and heat weld over the damaged area. Versatile – Because a shrink wrap cover is cut and heat welded by the installation team at the location it is required, there is no need to order specific sizes of cover in advance for different sized stacks and there is no need to ensure that a specific cover is used on a specific pipe stack. If the line pipe stack layout changes, this can be taken care of easily within the standard product. 100% Recyclable – Traditional tarpaulins can be difficult to recycle because of their composition, which makes the separation of materials problematic. However, a shrink wrap cover is very easy to remove and is completely recyclable. Because the shrink wrap is manufactured from 100% virgin resins, it is valued by re-processing companies. Typical applications for recycled industrial grade shrink wrap film are HDPE piping and agricultural films such as silage or bale wrap. Fundamentally, it is the two unique characteristics of the shrink wrap scaffold sheeting (the heat shrinking and the welded joints between sheets) that make it different to traditional types of scaffold sheeting. For example, once it has been fixed to the scaffolding and heat shrunk, it creates a very tightly fitting sheet which will not flap and self destruct like some types of sheeting. This makes it really strong and robust. The second result is that it is possible to create a completely sealed skin around a construction project without any holes or gaps typical of most sheeting systems. This makes it really good for those projects where the containment of dust and debris or whatever is required. How will the industrial covers be secured? When we look at a new application for a shrink wrap covering we need to consider how the sheeting will be held down or secured to whatever it is covering. When the cover is properly locked down into position, the heat shrink process will create a taught and ‘drum tight’ covering. For scaffolding encapsulation, the shrink wrap sheeting is simply overlapped around a horizontal tube or ‘ledger’ and heat welded back on to itself. For large industrial covers, such as these huge modules we wrapped for Interserve it may be possible to bring the shrink wrap completely underneath the object so that it is completely encapsulated. The first line pipe stack to cover was 48m (157′) long x 15m (49′) wide x 4m (13′) high – a total area of around 1224 square metres or 13,175 square feet. This was too large to lift and sheeting could not be slid underneath because the pipes were sitting on long wooden ‘bearers’. We considered running a band of strapping down each 48m side of the line pipe stack which we could overlap the shrink wrap around and heat weld back on to itself but at this length it would have been difficult to tension the strapping sufficiently to stop the cover ‘riding up’ around the pipe when the cover was heat shrunk. The solution was to encapsulate the lowest pipe running along the bottom edge of each stack with band of shrink wrap. This would mean that the top cover could be unfolded along the roof and down the side of each stack and could be then simply be heat welded to the lowest shrink wrapped pipe to lock it into position. The additional benefit of this solution is that it is completely ‘self contained’, i.e. it just needs shrink wrap sheeting and no additional tie downs or weights are required which had typically been used to hold down the more traditional tarpaulins during testing. However, the ends of each stack of pipes presented more of a challenge. The customer wanted to leave the ends of the stacks open which meant that we had to find some way of terminating the shrink wrap cover across the 15m (49′) width of the stack at a height of 4m (13′). To achieve this we installed and tensioned woven strapping. When the shrink wrap sheeting was installed, it was wrapped around this strapping and heat welded to itself to provide an anchoring point. What size and grade of shrink wrap sheeting will work best for industrial covers? We stock rolls of shrink wrap sheeting in a variety of widths from 4m to 16m wide and from 200 microns to 300 microns thickness. However, it is not just a matter of choosing the largest roll size possible. For this project we decided to use a 6m (20′) wide x 25m (82′) long roll of our 300 micron (12 mil) shrink wrap sheeting. This roll weighs 43Kg (95lbs), but whilst it is not exactly ‘lightweight’ is is more manageable than a 16m (52′) x 50m (164′) roll which weighs 163Kg (359lbs). A narrower shrink wrap roll width will often tend to have a much better ‘shrink ratio’ and that was important to us on this project because we wanted the covers to shrink down as tightly as possible around the line pipe stack. A tight covering of any kind will be much less likely to move, rub and flap and consequently will be much less likely to come off in strong winds. The 300 micron (12 mil) grade is probably thicker than many might select for industrial covers but because the covers could be in use for up to 2 years we felt that this would provide better protection than say a 190 micron (8 mil) shrink wrap which is often used for shrink wrapping boats and smaller industrial products during transport and storage. Because the customer wished to leave the ends of the line pipe stacks open, we felt there was a risk, during high winds, of the shrink wrap covering being damaged by being pushed up from the inside. As a ‘belt and braces’ approach we decided to fix straps over the shrink wrap covering which could be ratcheted tight and absorb the additional wind loads resulting from having each end of the cover open to the elements. What will be the installation process? With every installation project that we are involved in, it is vital that we can develop and document a safe system of work. With the exception of harnesses, we exclusively use safety equipment manufactured by Spanset in the United Kingdom. For this project in particular we used the Spanset Lightweight Fall Arrestor and the Spanset Recovery Block. The Recovery Block with a 15m line was secured to an overhead crane and used for the installation of the strapping. Once these straps were installed, our installers switched to the Lightweight fall arrestor which has a 3m line under constant tension. The Rhino Shrink Wrap Installation Team carry all necessary certification for the safe installation of industrial grade shrink wrap covers including; Site Supervisor Certification (SSSTS) International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) Pre-fabricated Access Suppliers & Manufacturers Association (PASMA), ‘GOTCHA’ rescue training (Spanset) Emergency First Aid at Work Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Shrink Wrap Industrial Covers for Line Pipe – The Installation Process The time scale for this project was tight. We needed to get the first stack covered before the Christmas break. As shrink wrapping is always weather dependant on relatively calm winds and dry conditions we were hoping that the weather would be kind to us! We had shipped a pallet of materials in advance which meant that our 2 man team could fly out as soon as the materials landed and the customer gave us the go ahead. For this project, Kris Martin and Tom Mount from Rhino were selected to carry out the work. Both Kris and Tom had many years experience shrink wrapping scaffolds and general industrial products. After their four hour flight, they picked up their rental car and headed directly to the customer’s site to complete the induction, security checks and get site passes issued in order to get a rapid start to work the following morning. First, the customer wanted to verify that the coating of the line pipe would not be damaged by the heat shrink process so we were requested to undertake a test on a scrap piece of pipe before the full scale covering. The customer first placed temperature indicating strips around the pipe, in locations where the shrink wrap cover would be shrunk and also in locations where the shrink wrap sheeting would be welded together. Once the sheeting was installed, the covering was cut open to reveal that virtually no heat had been transferred through to the coating of the pipe during the shrink wrap process and we were given the all clear to continue with the work. DAY 2 - Encapsulate bottom pipe to act as anchor point for cover To begin, the bottom line pipe is encapsulated using a 3m wide strip of Rhino 300 micron shrink wrap film, along the entire 48m length of the bottom pipe on each side of the stack of line pipes. Install woven strapping at pipe ends to act as anchor point for cover Next, woven strapping (3.5 ton break strength) is installed to provide a termination point / ‘perimeter band’ for the top cover at each ‘open pipe end’ of the stack. Install first 6m x 25m shrink wrap sheet across stack Then the first 6m x 25m cover is unrolled to completely cover a 6m wide strip across the 48m long stack. (This first sheet will cover both the roof and the sides of the line pipe stack.) Heat weld first 6m wide strip The first 6m wide sheet is overlapped to the bottom shrink wrapped line pipe by 30-40cm and the two sections of shrink wrap cover heat welded together at ground level. The first 6m wide sheet is also welded around the tensioned strapping / ‘perimeter band’ installed at the open end of the stack. Install first ratchet straps Strapping is installed at 4m intervals up & over the first 7m wide strip and ratcheted tight. The benefit of this approach is that the work can progress in controlled stages. Even if it became windy before all the strips of shrink wrap sheeting had been installed and heat shrunk, the strapping keeps everything under control. The strapping is terminated / secured at either end by passing around a line pipe. (To secure strapping around line pipe it is necessary to make a small hole in the cover – this hole can then be taped or a patch of shrink wrap cover heat welded over the top). DAY 3 - Install remaining straps The next 10 runs of strapping are fixed into position. Kris and Tom switch from the 15m long fall arrest blocks to a 3m long lanyard which will attach to the 3.5 ton tensioned straps. Because the strapping is installed at 4m intervals, this means that it is not possible for an operative working on the top surface of the line pipe stack to reach the edge. Work to fix the cover in areas which are within 2m of the edge of the line pipe stack takes place from within a scissor lift. Install next 6m wide sheets of shrink wrap The 2nd and 3rd shrink wrap rolls rolls are unfolded by the two man team across the top of the line pipe stack and pass under the tensioned strapping previously installed. Join 6m wide strips of shrink wrap by heat welding together The 2nd strip of shrink wrap film is overlapped onto the 1st 6m wide strip by 30-40cm and heat welded to bond the sheets together. It is also welded the shrink wrapped bottom pipe. The 3rd strip of shrink wrap is overlapped onto the 2nd strip by 30-40cm and heat welded to bond the sheets together. It is also welded the shrink wrapped bottom pipe. Heat shrink cover ‘drum tight’ The 1st 6m wide sheet is now heat shrunk ‘drum tight’ both up the sides and over the roof of the stack. The process is repeated in 6m wide strips until the entire stack has been covered and heat shrunk tight. DAY 4 - Install self adhesive weather proof vents The final stage of the process was to install some self adhesive weather proof air vents. These vents allow a cross flow of air beneath the covering and also allow wind that enters the open ends of the stacks to be vented without damaging the cover. For this project we installed one air vent every 25 square metres, both over the top and along the sides of the line pipe stacks. Industrial Covers – Challenges Weather – On these large shrink wrap projects that require the work to be carried outside, the weather can be problematic. Light winds are require to shrink the sheeting ‘drum tight’ and where sheets of shrink wrap needed to be heat welded together, this can be difficult if sheets are wet. On this project, it snowed shortly after completion and this put extra pressure on the shrink wrap sheeting where it passed around the top corners of the line pipe stack, causing some splits to appear. It was subsequently decided that we would install a reinforcing patch on the shrink wrap cover in these vulnerable areas and that we would also improve the method of attaching the strapping / perimeter band at the open ends of the stacks. We manufactured a small but robust clamp which we fixed to the bottom row of open line pipe ends (and down each 4m high edge of the stack) at 2 metre intervals. When we passed the strapping through these clamp points it proved to be a much improved method for anchoring the shrink wrap sheeting at the ‘tricky’ pipe ends.