All advantages at a glance:
- Power reserve for pipeline installation in HDD projects
- Key technical component for the Direct Pipe® and Pipe Express® methods
- Recovery of stuck or damaged pipelines
- Pipeline insertion into existing tunnels, pipelines (pipe-in-pipe) or boreholes
- Maximum pulling and thrust forces of up to 7,500 kN (750 t)
The Pipe Thruster in operation
With thrust and pulling forces of up to 750 tonnes, the Herrenknecht Pipe Thruster plays a powerful key role in pipeline installation. By simply changing the clamping plates, the usable pipeline diameter can be varied from 8 to 60 inches.
Additional thrust in HDD
The flexibly deployable power pack increases the range of applications possible with the HDD method to even longer pipelines with large diameters or in difficult geologies. Installed on the exit side (pipe side), the Pipe Thruster supports the HDD rig during pipeline insertion. It additionally pushes the pipe string toward the rig side. In this way, the forces acting on the pipeline are applied and distributed more effectively.
Pipeline insertion into existing tunnels and boreholes
Other applications include the insertion of pipelines into existing tunnels, pipes or boreholes, e.g. for landfalls, so-called sea outfall projects: here, gas pipelines or sewage pipes are pushed out to sea from land using the Pipe Thruster, eliminating the need for complex offshore tunnelling equipment.
The driving force behind Direct Pipe®
At up to 750 tonnes, the Pipe Thruster provides the thrust required to drive the microtunnelling machine forward in the Direct Pipe® method. It also allows the tunnelling machine or pipeline to be retracted if project execution requires this, e.g. for a tool/disc cutter change.
Maschinendaten
Herrenknecht's Pipe Thruster has already proven itself in over 70 projects.
How the Pipe Thruster works
Great care is required during a pipeline advance, as the pipeline casing must not be damaged under any circumstances. Two axially arranged hydraulic cylinders on the Pipe Thruster transfer their continuously adjustable force to the product pipe via the clamping unit. The ring-shaped clamping unit is opened on one side to accommodate the pipeline. The clamping plates lined with special rubber provide a sufficiently large contact surface with the pipe. They thus keep the contact pressure and the shear stresses applied to the pipe low. Numerous tests and successful projects show: the coatings made of plastic (PP, PE, GRP, FBE) or concrete do not suffer any damage as a result.
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