Increasing heavy lifting safety while cutting costs

The new product by Green Pin® addresses both challenges.

Green Pin® recently introduced the Green Pin Power Sling® Shackle. Green Pin® claims the new shackle lets companies save up to 20% on synthetic- and wire rope costs thanks to its design (for which a patent is pending). The Power Sling® thus addresses the need for more cost-effective solutions in transport, installation and decommissioning. Of course, cost reductions are an important industry goal but only so long as they do not negatively impact safety. The new product manages to achieve significant cost-savings while actually increasing the safety and ease of handling for riggers at the same time. It does this thanks to the lower body weight, multiple handling points and RFID-chips in both shackle body and pin.

One of the more salient features of the lifting industry in the past few years has been an increased focus on cost. This especially holds true for all transport and installation activities related to energy projects. The steep decline in the price of oil has forced companies throughout the value chain to rein in costs significantly.

At the same time however, both onshore and offshore loads have become increasingly heavier. It is these two trends that prompted Green Pin® – Dutch manufacturer of shackles, turnbuckles and other rigging equipment – to develop a new shackle. Green Pin®’s goal was to develop a new type of shackle for heavy lifting (> 100t) that would deliver its users a substantial cost benefit. However, the potential for cost benefits resulting from a shackle alone is not that large when compared to the cost of the sling it is used in: the wire rope in a sling can cost 10 times more than the cost of the shackle. So rather than creating a less costly product, Green Pin® decided to develop a new shackle that unlocks much larger savings in its application.

The key to do this was to increase the ‘bending efficiency’ of the shackle: the degree to which the maximum load (WLL) that can be lifted with a particular wire rope should be reduced as a consequence of the bearing surface of a shackle. The larger the bending efficiency that can be applied to a rope, the lighter the rope that can be used. So for example, a rope of WLL 200t that is combined with a shackle that offers a bending efficiency of 80%, will be allowed to lift 160t. If the bending efficiency is 85% however, a lighter and less costly rope of 189t can be used (since it leads to a reduced WLL of 160t as well). The previous generation of shackles – developed some 20 years ago – have a bending efficiency of 80%. The new Green Pin Power Sling® Shackle has a bending efficiency of 85%. The shackle crown is the widest in the industry (+10% more than previous generation shackles) and has an optimal D/d ratio. The areas of the new Power Sling® shackle that endure the highest stress have also been reinforced. As a result, the Power Sling® lets customers save up to 20% on synthetic- and wire rope costs.

Features relating to the safety of riggers are also notably different compared to other products. The Power Sling® is equipped with eight handling points to the body and several more on the pin (larger sizes have more handling points than smaller sizes). In many cases, these handling points are smaller shackles that are attached to the main shackle. Moving the shackle (which itself can weigh up to 2950 kg / 6500 lbs.) into place and attaching the load becomes much safer as a result. The design of the bolt is also new: it does not have any thread so it reduces the risk of cuts. Finally, the product has undergone an unparalleled testing regiment: fatigue tests for 40.000 cycles at 1.5 WLL (the API-norm is 20.000 cycles) and proofload tests to twice the WLL (competing products are tested to a maximum of 1.5). Material characteristics have been thoroughly examined, both internally and in the shackle’s surface, by MPI-tests, ultrasonic inspection and X-ray.

Green Pin®’s new product thus succeeds in attaining two industry goals at the same time: saving costs and improving safety. The Green Pin Power Sling® is available in a range from WLL 125T to 1250T and is supplied with a wide range of certificates. For more information on the new product and to download its CAD-drawings, go to https://greenpin.com/power. The Green Pin® Power Sling is also on display at the Green Pin® booth (#1.177) at Offshore Energy in Amsterdam on October 10 and 11.

This advertorial was produced by Green Pin® and does not necessarily reflect the views of Offshore Energy Today. No member of the editorial team took part in creation of this article. Please contact us at [email protected] for inquiries.