UAE-based Safety Services Group (SSG) have conducted a load test of the first prototype travelling block designed and fabricated in the Middle East
The conglomerate SSG, provider of lifting equipment, engineering and turnkey solutions, designed and fabricated the block used to raise or lower the drill string and casings into oil well bores.
A proof load test of the block was done through tensile test up to 907 tonnes. Safety Marine Services, an SSG company, performed the test on its in-house hydraulic tensile test bed in the presence of representatives from National Oilwell, American Petroleum Institute (API) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Class Surveyors.
Mohammed Seethi Padiyath, general manager operations, Safety Services Group, said, “The traveling block was a prototype and handling such an enormous block was a real challenge. A trial run was conducted on the test bed up to 960 tonnes prior to the actual load test. Achieving 907 tonnes and holding it in a static mode was also a task. With the expertise of our highly skilled engineers and technology we were able to successfully test the prototype.”
A special rope was used in the testing as the safe working load (SWL) of the rope required was high.
The company said that lowering, lifting, and controlling the drill string in deep well bores ‘generally requires an extraordinarily robust hoist arrangement’.
SSG added, “This requires that travelling blocks be rated to safely suspend loads that often exceed 1,000,000 pounds (454,000kg). These extreme loads, in conjunction with the stress placed on it by the drilling process, necessitates the use of highly robust and reliable components in the construction of the block.”
