Custom Designs Make Nuclear Feed Water Heater Replacement Much Easier

Market: Nuclear

Location: New Jersey

Project Dates: 04/2009 – 11/2009

The Challenge

A customer contracted Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company to replace a nuclear feed water heater. Moving the four tube bundles around the feed water heater deck proved difficult, because the opening through which the team wished to remove the bundles extended 20 feet above the ground.

The Solution

Hake Rigging, a Barnhart NE company, designed low-headroom, high-maneuverability support carts that allowed the tube bundles to be easily rotated, moved, and lifted.

The Description

The team replaced four feed water heater tube bundles that each extracted steam from the turbine. The heaviest tube bundle weighed approximately 66,000 pounds and boasted a length of 50 feet.

As mentioned above, the most difficult challenge the team faced was maneuvering the tube bundles around the feed water heater deck in order to reach the opening 20 feet above the ground.

Hake also designed and fabricated a platform on top of a four-leg 350-ton J&R gantry system. The team used hydraulic cranes to lift the bundles into the carts, which sat upon the platform.

Once the crew secured the bundles in the cart, the J&R gantry system raised them up to the opening. Barnhart added a deckplate to push the cart across the gap from the platform to the opening. The team then successfully moved the bundles into the turbine building.

Major Equipment Used

• Gantry System
• Hake Support Packs
• Custom Designed Platforms