28 March 2023
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Elta Fans has designed and manufactured four custom explosion-proof fans for use in an offshore oil and gas application in Brazil.
Needing to follow the customer and end-user’s pre-defined specification, in addition to a small installation footprint, Elta's applied technology engineers built four bespoke fans at its Fareham-based factory. The 1,120mm diameter, stainless-steel long cased axial units utilised marine-grade aluminium impellers, stainless-steel 316L casings, terminal boxes, and ancillaries to withstand the harsh salt-laden offshore environment.
As well as durability, a key requirement was ensuring that the fans were explosion-proof and complied with the customer’s design requirements, in addition to offshore and Brazilian safety regulations. The fans were built with C5M-painted Zone 1 ATEX motors, BFOU cabling and stainless-steel glands. To comply with the Brazilian standard NR-37, motor cowls, access doors, and internal terminal boxes were painted to colour RAL 2008.
In line with the end-user’s monitoring requirements, the fan models came equipped with Shock Pulse Monitoring (SPM) sensors and a cable transit system to wire the coaxial cable to an externally fan mounted terminal box. Accounting for vibration during installation, the fan mounting plate was paired with anti-vibration mounts.
Lewis Brand, technical & project sales engineer at Elta Fans, led on the project. He said: “Working on applied technology projects means working through customer specifications to ensure we’re designing the best fan for their application, and working with customers throughout a project is something we pride ourselves on at Elta Fans. This project really showcases our engineering capability; four unique fans that we have manufactured to the highest quality and will stand the test of time.”
