The Orangutan Lifting Device

The Orangutan Lifting Device

Project:                   The Orangutan
Location:           UK
Sector: Onshore and offshore renewable energy wind power
Duration: 2 years
Design stage: Concept development, detailed engineering and design
Contact: Dr. Matt Straw, business director, Prospect

Client's challenge

ITI Energy, part of ITI Scotland Ltd , which was recently integrated into Scottish Enterprise, commissioned Prospect to provide conceptual development and design services to the Orangutan® Wind Turbine Access System R&D programme. 
Orangutan® is a novel clamping and climbing technology with an innovative way of lifting loads,  and aims to significantly improve operations and maintenance activities for onshore wind turbines. The technology also has the potential to be marinised for offshore use.

Workscope and approach

Project support included detailed structural analysis to simulate the effects of loadings from the Orangutan® on the tower, in conjunction with successful1/5th scaled testing; completed in 2009, to validate the commercial feasibility of the £2.3 million technology investment. 

The investigation by Prospect is particularly novel, as the proportions of the tower are outside of the existing engineering codes of practice in this field.

Prospect's solution 

Prospect partnered with Professor Michael Rotter, of the University of Edinburgh, a leading expert in the field of thin wall buckling, to undertake this pioneering study into the behaviour of the tower under Orangutan® clamping loads. 

Prospect and the other technology partners have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the Orangutan® concept through development of a design that meets the key technical requirements for the lifting assembly.

Benefits

The Orangutan® project presented a series of challenges, which required the team to consider and develop new and innovative solutions.  Working in close partnership, Prospect, ITI Energy and the other R&D providers have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the Orangutan® concept through development of a design that meets the key technical requirements for the lifting assembly.

Following successful completion of the R&D programme, Scottish Enterprise is currently looking for potential commercial partners to fully develop a prototype of the design prepared by Prospect into a finished climbing machine.

"Exemplary performance from Prospect on this open ended R&D contract"

David Slee, Programme Manager, ITI Energy/ Scottish Enterprise

"By undertaking a series of scaled tests we have validated the FEA model against real towers to improve our understanding of tower behaviour under defined loading conditions"

Kevan Stokes, Technical Authority for the Orangutan® study, Prospect