Soleco and the range of certified anti-seismic anti-vibration systems for the Oil&Gas and Nuclear sectors.
Governments are called to collaborate to find solutions that can go in green directions to safeguard our planet. The protagonists of these meetings find themselves having to decide, in the short term, which direction they want to go in order to achieve medium-term objectives in terms of sustainability and ecology. However, solutions seem to be slow in coming but at the same time the world continues to require enormous quantities of energy.
Today’s energy needs are mainly generated by fossil fuels, hydroelectric sources and nuclear power. These plants are constantly expanding and developing precisely to be able to satisfy the ever-increasing global demand. In order to participate in tenders for these projects, manufacturers of units such as generators, transformers or air treatment machines must obtain certain and restricted certifications and use very high-quality resources. This is because the installation sites are often in areas close to the sea and therefore the materials used must be resistant to salt spray and corrosion but above all because in the event of an unforeseeable atmospheric/natural event, the machines must continue to operate without risk of overturning.
In the case of Oil & Gas plants, units such as current transformers are installed on platforms in the middle of the sea. The latter are continuously subjected to the force of the sea motion and the wind which cause continuous oscillations of the platform. The units, therefore, must be solidly anchored to the base. Soleco engineering srl, a company that has been producing anti-vibration and anti-seismic devices for over 50 years, has carried out orders of this type, providing its customers with certified anti-seismic anti-vibration devices capable of isolating the machine from vibrations and at the same time ensuring a solid anchoring of the same to the base.
For these special requests, the Soleco Technical Office has provided anti-seismic vibration dampers sized specifically for the customer’s machines, customized with special materials, such as AISI 316 stainless steel or NORSOK paints and C5M cycles (UNI EN ISO 12944). Anti-seismic vibration dampers are proposed not only in cases where the installation site is in an area at seismic risk, but also in cases like these where the units can be subject to continuous stress due to wind or sea force. For applications in the NUCLEAR sector, the requests become different. These plants, which are constantly growing, even in European areas and especially in Asia, require high quality levels of the materials used and resistance to high temperatures. Inside these plants, air treatment machines are installed that must allow constant recirculation and cooling of the environment. This is why in these contexts a specific certification for anti-seismic is required. That is, ensuring that the machine is seismically anchored and that there is no risk of the unit overturning in the event of an earthquake.
For this reason, Soleco has proven to be the ideal choice for many customers, as the range of Soleco anti-seismic vibration dampers is certified by the Polytechnic University of Milan according to the American standards ANSI/ASHRAE 171-2008. We can therefore say that the certified Soleco anti-seismic series is a product that can be used in different contexts in the non-structural isolation of machines and that can bring high benefits for manufacturers and designers in terms of competitiveness, quality and safety. By working alongside its customers, the Soleco Technical staff can immediately perceive these advantages and suggest to its customers to use this anti-seismic line. It may also happen that for some specifications, a seismic certification is requested directly on the machines. In this case, Soleco offers a seismic certification service for the units.
Technicians guide the customer towards the selection of the units to be tested, designing and producing ad hoc bases to reinforce the structures and accompanying the customer to certified laboratories where these tests will be held in which the action of the earthquake will be simulated thanks to a special vibrating table. The test is validated by a Certifier who will issue the certificate only if the units at the end of the test are still functioning and if the damage caused by the machine is within a certain value. Through the certification of their lines of units, machine manufacturers will be able to propose themselves directly in the projects and obtain with greater possibility access to projects for special sectors just like in the Oil & Gas and nuclear sectors.