Dsm Dyneema News

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has announced that it is now building one of the most advanced fiber-rope cranes on the market. The MacGregor FiberTrac crane will have a 150-metric-ton safe working load capacity and will be ready for testing during the first quarter of 2018. "The greatest advantage of fiber rope when handling loads in ultra-deepwater is that it weighs virtually nothing in water," said Høye Høyesen, Vice President, Advanced Offshore Solutions at MacGregor "This neutral buoyancy means that…

RSC Bio Solutions recently announced the addition of several key team members in the business development and sales departments in a continuing drive to support its growing client base. The company also announced a new market-oriented organizational structure with two focused teams around the marine and land markets. “Deeper segment experience and knowledge will support our growth objectives and our goal to be recognized as the go-to resource for biochemical solutions in markets where protecting equipment and protecting the environment are both essential…

Dyneema-branded ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fiber is now available in black. DSM Dyneema, the developer and producer of Black Dyneema, says the new product will open up important new opportunities for the Dyneema fiber family. According to the developer, Dyneema is the world’s strongest fiber on a weight for weight basis and is already used for a broad range of applications. Until now, Dyneema fiber has only been available in its natural white color. If users wanted to use the fiber in an application requiring color, they needed to post-treat it. But UHMWPE fibers are almost inert chemically, so the colors, which are only on the surface, tend to wear off.

Gerard de Reuver has elected to step down as President of DSM Dyneema on August 1, 2015 after five years in the post, the company announced today. He will be succeeded by Golnar Motahari Pour, a German national with extensive global management experience. The transition will begin immediately, and be completed by the end of next month. As of August 1, 2015, Gerard will take on a new role in a corporate culture project, reporting to Dimitri de Vreeze, member of the DSM Managing Board. Gerard, a Dutch national, joined DSM in 2002 as Business Unit Director for Anti-Infectives.

DSM will appeal against a ruling by a judge in the Court of Milan that one of its Patents is not valid, the company announced in a press release today. According to DSM, the court case dates back to 2009 and was brought by DSM against EOS, a distributor based in Italy and Zhong Fang (also known as Beijing Tongyizhong), a Chinese based manufacturer of UHMWPE fibers. The allegation against both companies was that its fiber, mainly intended for use in rope applications, has infringed DSM’s patent number EP1126052. A patent expert appointed by the judge argued that the patent obtained by DSM was not valid. DSM appointed an independent patent expert to review the evidence. His conclusion was that the patent is valid.

Industrial chains for handling heavy loads are being produced for the first time from DSM’s ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMwPE) fiber, branded as Dyneema. DSM Dyneema has formed a strategic partnership with Load Solutions AS in Bergen, Norway, for development, manufacturing, sales and marketing of link chains made with Dyneema fiber. The chains, branded as TYCAN, are fabricated from webbings and have numerous economic, environmental and safety advantages over traditional chains that for centuries have been made in iron and steel.

The largest and most complex maritime salvage operation ever carried out was concluded this summer. The Costa Concordia parbuckling operation on the rocks of the Italian island of Giglio has been a success in many ways—not least for the objective to retrieve in one piece, such a massive vessel (117,000 tons) with minimal damage to the delicate marine environment on which it foundered. High performance ropes with Dyneema played a key role in the operation. DSM Dyneema has been supplying UHMWPE fiber, branded as Dyneema  for ropes used in tug and salvage operations for almost 15 years.

Heavy lift operations offshore are an awe-inspiring feat, but an operation that requires consistent monitoring of man, machine and procedure to ensure they are conducted in as an efficient and safe manner as possible. Due to a growing focus on safety related to subsea lifting operations, DNV GL recently established a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to develop practical methods for reducing the risks and lifetime cost of steel wire ropes for subsea lifting applications, using an integrated systems approach.

The introduction of new and larger vessels, Q-Flex and Q-Max, and new, often more exposed terminals becoming operational have changed mooring dynamics. The need to maintain workers’ safety at all times, whilst delivering maximum operational efficiency through lower costs and faster turnaround times remains unchanged. DSM Dyneema, a close partner to the LNG industry, has done a study which concludes that these industry trends are changing the performance demands for LNG mooring lines. In parallel to DSM Dyneema’s investigation, in 2011 members of the LNG community created a Users Group to further investigate HMPE mooring line failures which TTI (UK) was asked to facilitate. DSM Dyneema is part of the Users Group, while at the same time continuing its own investigation program.

A salvage operation on a ship wreck 3200 meters below the surface of the South Atlantic has been successfully carried out thanks to the use of lightweight ropes made with Dyneema ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber. Dyneema fiber, the world’s strongest fiber, is manufactured by DSM Dyneema. It is used by Hampidjan, one of the largest fishing gear and “super rope” manufacturers in the world, to make Dynex Warp, an advanced patent-pending winch line for deep sea lifting and lowering as well as for towing fishing trawls.

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has specified ultra strong, lightweight Dyneema fibers for a complete set of mooring ropes for a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU). Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras has substantial interests in deepwater exploration. Petrobras specifically asked for the ropes to be made with SK78 grade of UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) fibers from DSM Dyneema for its high strength at low weight properties. SK78 grade…

Leading deepwater rope manufacturer, Lankhorst Ropes, has secured the first-ever, worldwide order for Dyneema synthetic mooring rope for deepwater MODU (Mobile Operating Drilling Unit) projects from Brazilian oil and gas producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras). Gama 98 is a rope construction developed by Lankhorst Ropes specifically for deepwater mooring, and used on a number of major deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The rope will feature up to 12 Dyneema SK78 yarn sub-ropes. Developed by DSM, Dyneema SK78 is a high modulus polyethylene fibre.

Use of Dyneema ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber is helping to ensure that a major construction project to bring clean energy to millions of people in the U.K. moves ahead as efficiently and safely as possible. The world’s largest offshore wind farm is under construction in the North Sea, 23 km off the coast of England. Scheduled for completion in 2012, the Greater Gabbard wind farm’s 140 turbines will generate 500 megawatts of electricity for the people of London. The turbines are mounted on top of 65-meter, 650-tonne steel “mono piles” that are transported by barge from the Verbrugge Zeeland Terminal in Vlissingen, Netherlands to the construction site.

For the installation of offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea, Mammoet Van Oord, a marine contractor, selected heavy lifting slings made with Dyneema polyethylene fiber from DSM Dyneema. The round slings, manufactured by the Unitex Group, are designed to lift heavy loads weighing up to several hundreds of tons. Mammoet Van Oord is using the Unitex lifting slings with its new jack-up installation barge, the “Jumping Jack,” to place 240 ton monopiles as part of the foundations required for the installation of wind turbines in the Burbo offshore wind farm project located off the coast of Liverpool, United Kingdom. Similarly, while abrasive steel wire can scratch coatings that provide important corrosion resistance to the monopiles…