Rothera Research Station

Summary

  • Location: Antarctic
  • Product area: Pipework
  • Service area: Design, Installation & Site Supervision

We were asked by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to support them with installation work on the Rothera Research Station, situated in the Antarctic. The project consisted of designing and supplying a fuel pipe system, including heat traced Brugg FSR piping and Fuel Fill Point Cabinets.

Challenge

Supporting our customer BAS at the Rothera Research Station in the Antarctic, Flowtech were asked to assist with the installation of a fuel pipe system along with supplying installation equipment and onsite supervision to ensure the project ran smoothly.

The team had to contend with the installation of large amounts of piping under challenging and harsh conditions, ensuring they kept to an agreed timeline.

Concept

Our concept included 960m of heat traced DN50 FSR 3WD 63/83-171 and 1,053m of heat traced DN40 FSR 3WD 48/71-148, with pipes supplied in 7 different lengths, to run to and from various buildings at the site.

The build would also incorporate 4 Fuel Fill Point Cabinets, complete with an SGB vacuum monitored leak detection system.

Installation equipment would need to be supplied in the form of winches, pipe pulling socks, drum jacks, a trailer and drive system, roller assemblies, chain blocks, a Tirfor Cable Puller, and slings & shackles.

Solution

The integration of embedded heat trace cables occurred during factory production at Brugg Germany, while the overall heat trace cable and components termination solutions were jointly supplied by Flowtech and Brugg.

Fuel Pipe Gantry installation methods were employed by the team and two site engineers were present to assist with installation of the pipework, spending 6 weeks in total to ensure the project was completed successfully.

Benefit

The total fuel pipe solution was delivered on time by Flowtech and Brugg, ensuring that the project ran smoothly from start to finish. Flowtech engineers supervised the installation, including equipment selection and procurement, meaning that this highly prestigious project for BAS was deemed a complete success.

Download a PDF version of the Rothera Research Station case study here.