The fusion process is one of the best sources of clean energy because it does not produce greenhouse gases and generates less long-lasting radioactive waste than nuclear fission.
Sarens has worked at the Culham Center for Fusion Energy (CCFU) plant in the UK replacing two cryogenic tanks using the LTM1500 with a lifting capacity of up to 500 tons.
Fusion will provide a secure and abundant supply for thousands of years. One liter of ordinary water contains enough deuterium to provide the energy content (when fused with tritium) of more than 500 liters of gasoline. It is also a clean source of energy because its generation produces no greenhouse gas emissions.
The main driving force behind this new form of clean energy generation is the Culham Center for Fusion Energy (CCFE). It is part of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and is based at the Culham Science Centre near Oxford, England, one of the world's leading fusion research centers, where they are developing technology and designs for the first fusion power plants.
Sarens, world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental solutions, has positioned itself as a driver of this innovative form of clean energy generation with its work at the CCFE plant in Abingdon, Oxfordshire (UK). At this site, Sarens engineering team has undertaken the installation of two cryogenic storage tanks.
For this task the Sarens team used a Liebherr LTM1500-8.1 crane, which has a load capacity of 500 tons. They supplemented the necessary equipment with a 110-ton capacity Tadano crane, which was used for the tandem lifting and for the installation of the unit.
The complexity of the operation was more about site access than the lifting work itself. Due to the large size of the crane, it could not fit through the main entrance and an alternative access had to be found. The entire project, based on the lifting and placement of the two tanks, one 150m3 and 29,000 kgs and the other 30 m3 and 8,029 kgs, was completed in four days including the erection of the cranes.
The installation of the new tanks will allow the CCFU to continue research to realize the enormous potential of fusion to generate electricity. Fusion is the process that occurs when light cores fuse to form a heavier core. For this phenomenon to occur, a combination of hydrogen gases - deuterium and tritium - is heated to very high temperatures (over 100 million degrees Celsius). The gas becomes plasma, and the cores combine to form a helium nucleus and a neutron, with a small fraction of the mass converted into "fusion" energy. Plasma, with millions of such reactions every second can provide an enormous amount of energy from very small amounts of fuel. Powerful magnets are used to control the hot plasma.
The main advantage of this process resides in the materials needed to make it. Deuterium can be extracted from water and tritium will be produced inside the plant from lithium, an element present in abundance in the earth's crust and seawater. Even with widespread adoption of fusion power plants, these fuel supplies would last for thousands of years.
Sarens has extensive experience in the nuclear power sector. In the UK they have recently worked at the Hinckley Point C power station using the Big Carl, their most advanced crane. Also in the nuclear sector, they have been involved in the replacement of four steam generators at the Watts Bar power plant in Spring City, Tennessee. Sarens has also worked on the Flamanville nuclear power plant project in France and at Vogtle Nuclear Electric in Georgia.
About Sarens
Sarens is the global leader and reference in crane rental, heavy lift, and engineered transportation services. With state-of-the-art equipment, value engineering, one of the world's largest inventories of cranes, transporters and special rigging equipment, Sarens offers creative and intelligent solutions to today's heavy lifting and engineering transport challenges.
With more than 100 entities in 65 countries operating without borders, Sarens is an ideal partner for small to large-scale projects. Sarens currently employs 4,543 highly qualified professionals who are ready to serve the needs of any client worldwide and in all market sectors. https://www.sarens.com/