Hydraulic system cable tensioners
Hydraulic system for controlling the cable clamping force of an electrically driven cable tensioner. This cable tensioner is used for laying cables on the seabed to, for example, wind farms.
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The tensioner holds the cable to be laid and ensures that it can be laid condomized on the seabed. The force on the cable must be accurately regulated. Not too low, causing the cable to slip through the tensioner tracks due to its own weight, but not too high either, causing the cable to be damaged.
The cylinders feature a manifold with Bucher Cindy load holding valves to control the load while positioning the tracks. Several leak-proof valves allow switching between positioning and clamping modes. Combined with relatively small piston accumulators, this system can keep the set force at the same value for days without having to be re-pressurized. This is required when, for example, supply voltage would be lost for an extended period during cable laying. This prevents very expensive cable from being spent uncontrolled on the sea floor.
