Germany: Aker Wirth Delivers 250th Mud Pump in TPK 2200 Series

The 15 December 2011 marked delivery by Aker Wirth of the 250th mud pump in the TPK 2200 series. Following its successful trial run, the jubilee pump is now on its way to Korea. It will be installed there as one of four pumps in the “Tungsten Explorer” deep sea drilling vessel project from Vantage Drilling being realised at the DSME shipyard. This drilling vessel will be drilling the seabed several kilometres deep all around the world from 2013 in water depths of up to 3600 m to explore oil and natural gas fields.

Development of this model significantly contributed to making the Oilfield & Pumps product group the most successful business unit at Aker Wirth GmbH today. The company generates more than 50% of turnover solely with products for the oil and gas industry.

A broad range of applications

The successful TPK 2200 model is used in a widely diversified range of applications. The mud pump is used all over the world on drilling platforms, jackups, semi-subs, drilling vessels and onshore drilling rigs which drill for oil and gas deposits. The TPK 2200 has a driving power of 2200 PS and can pump up to 1640 litres of drilling emulsion per minute at a maximum pressure of 517 bar. It operates from min. temperatures of –40°C to max. temperatures of +60°C. In addition, use of a new water jacket motor with direct water cooling has enabled the reduction of noise, with the level now lying below 83 dBA.

An outstanding team

Customer analyses which document the availability of the systems during operation confirm the high reliability and efficiency of Aker Wirth pumps, with availability rates of 99.9 % being achieved. Outstanding personnel are a prerequisite for such outstanding performance. Over 70 experts from Aker Wirth contribute with their know-how to the success of each individual pump – over the entire production chain and beyond through an optimum maintenance and spare parts service. The jubilee pump will also make a significant contribution to company turnover in future with so-called life cycle services. These are services that come into their own after the sale of the product and affect the entire life cycle of the product. Frank Lengersdorf, vice president sales, explains that “commissioning, services, the spare parts service and training seminars provide the perfect environment in which our highly qualified skilled employees can demonstrate their technical know-how and many years of experience.”

Bill Thomson, VP Technical at Vantage Drilling says “We now have twelve of these pumps in operations and are due to have a further eight pumps on the Tungsten Explorer and Dalian Developer come into operation in the next eighteen months. It is clear to us that Aker Wirth has the experience and personnel to provide a superior product. We greatly appreciate the openness and willingness to listen to feedback from their customers to further enhance the success of this design.” 18 new service personnel will be recruited in 2012 to ensure that our high standard of quality is maintained. These employees are trained and suitably qualified in our company competence center prior to their field operations around the world. However, we are also looking for dedicated employees in the sales and sales support. The Oilfield & Pumps product group will expand by a total of 140 employees in 2012.

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Subsea World News Staff , December 15, 2011;