DROMEC Winches develops active heave compensation system

Breman Machinery is a contractor and supplier of complex total products in the field of steel and stainless steel. Critical components with extreme weight and enormous dimensions across various sectors – that is the strength of this specialist. Breman Innovation, as a subsidiary, is specialized in product development for offshore equipment. DROMEC developed an innovative active heave compensated system for a Breman chain crane.

Active heave

Various maintenance tasks are performed on offshore wind turbines. With the help of Breman’s chain crane, materials and tools are transported from the swaying ship to the wind turbine’s transition piece. In rough seas and extreme weather conditions, this can be quite a challenge! Conditions quickly become too turbulent and dangerous to transfer goods without active heave compensation. In collaboration with Breman Innovation, the engineers at DROMEC Winches worked together to develop an innovation for the crane to enable safer operations. With a “plug-in” active heave compensation system, the movement of the ship is compensated. Innovative, simple, and efficient!

Drive system

The chain crane is powered by an electric drive with a specially modified motor by DROMEC. Through a planetary gearbox, the forces are transferred to the crane’s special chain drive. In this situation, the chain drive is more reliable compared to a steel cable, and with speeds of up to 60 meters per minute, it’s a unique development. The control system is designed to be very simple and easy to operate, making the system accessible to any operator. With a plug-in module and a sensor on the ship for wave motion detection, the operator can transform a “simple” crane into a smart active heave crane.

Daan Boezeman, engineer at DROMEC Winches:
“For the client, it’s important to continue working during an operation. With this robust active heave compensation system on Breman’s chain cranes, we make this as efficient as possible. Regardless of the weather conditions, it’s possible to carry out various tasks. That’s also the design philosophy: less is more! A fun detail about this project is that I developed it in collaboration with my father, and we’ve received many requests based on this prototype. This way, we mutually strengthen each other in the family business!”

Family businesses Breman and DROMEC connected by father and son

Arjan Boezeman:
“For some time, DROMEC has been involved in the development of the chain crane, a chain-driven crane for offshore wind turbines. This crane was developed within the company Breman Innovation, part of the steel construction company Breman Machinery in Genemuiden. DROMEC supplied the drive system for this crane.”

Fun fact

Breman Innovation was co-founded by Arjan Boezeman. Last year, Arjan’s son Daan graduated and worked part-time on various developments within Breman Innovation. When the idea arose to add heave compensation to the Chain Crane, Daan was initially part of his father’s team in discussions with DROMEC. Daan already knew DROMEC from his graduation project, which involved developing a welding robot, and he thought it might be a good idea to apply for a job at DROMEC. Daan then started working at DROMEC, and one of the first projects he worked on was commissioning the heave compensation in the chain crane for a demonstration. Family(in)business!