As nuclear power plants seek to boost energy efficiency, operators are increasingly using synthetic slings containing high-tech Vectran® fibers to lift heavy turbines for safety, productivity and performance benefits.
Super-strong Vectran fiber is regularly used in slings for these heavy lifting jobs to hoist nuclear turbines weighing up to 250 tons, or the equivalent of 150 pickup trucks, for maintenance and replacement with more advanced power-generating units.
The fiber based slings provide a number of benefits to operators over traditional wire rope slings that can weigh 90 percent more, including increased worker safety, cost samings and improved productivity.
SYNTHETIC SLING PIONEERS
Slingmax Rigging Solutions, a world-leading provider of advanced rigging products, pioneered sythetic slings for nuclear turbine lifts in the mid-1980's. "Nuclear turbine lifts have to be done with surgical precision," said Dennis St. Germain, CEO of SlingMax, manufacturer of Twin-Path® slings with K-Spec® cores. "Our slings enable power plant operators to do their jobs safer and with less down time."
Shutting down a nuclear power plant for maintenance can cost millions of dollars because the companies have to buy power from alternative sources during the outage. Savings of one million per day are common for using Twin-Path slings with K-Spec cores over steel rigging slings because nuclear plants can get back in service quicker, St. Germain said.
Among the other benefits of synthetic slings are less exposure for workers to radioactive elements because of the quicker installation, easier storage and transportation, less heavy equipment required in the lift, and easier inspection for damage due to a fiber optic system.
SAFER WORK PLACES
PPL's Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania has been using synthetic slings for more than a decade for its proven safety and productivity benefits. "Synthetic slings have changed the way we work," said Stephen Mengle, a nuclear field services journeyman at the plant who has more than 20 years experience working with both fiber-based slings and wire ropes. "Twin-Path slings with K-Spec core slings provide strong reliability, ease of use and an improved safety margin."
Rigging crews using the slings are better protected against the possibility of job hazards such as being pinched between equipment or knocked over by a heavy wire sling, and a single worker can carry a sling on his own versus needing a crane to move it, Mengle said.
The performance of a sling also is critical to protect the power plant equipment that is not quickly replaceable if damaged. The abrasion resistant covers around the slings help to protect against damage to the machinery, he noted.
Twin-Path slings with K-Spec cores were featured on a National Geograpic series, World's Toughest Fixes, ina segment where engineers successfully replaced a rotor at the Susquehanna plant that powers a million homes.
Vectran's high strength, low elongation, abrasion resistance and low creep are among the features that make it sought for tough lifting applications, according to Robert Knudsen with Kuraray America Inc.'s Vectran division. "Vectran fiber's unique properties make it ideally suited for extreme lifting jobs like those in nuclear power plants," he said. "From helping generated more efficient nuclear power to being used to tether floating wind turbines and in space applications, Vectran meets the performance requirements for the most challenging applications."