VOSTA LMG has received a nomination for the development of the GREENFORCE ball joint.
This is a revolutionary design of a ball joint for the use in floating pipelines behind cutter suction dredgers. The new design reduces costs and reaches several advantages for the environment.
The nominees of the Dutch HME Maritime Innovation Award 2012 are VOSTA LMG, Huisman Equipment BV, Kranendonk Production Systems BV, and Imtech Marine & Offshore BV.
GREENFORCE Ball Joint
The revolutionary new design, based on GREENFORCE technology, provides full wear liner protection and will result in less power and fuel consumption, less CO2 emission, less wear and has the possibility to apply a modern, self lubricating bearing system, avoiding the need for grease.
In the past 40 years little has changed in the design of ball joints for the dredging industry. As experienced supplier of ball joints, VOSTA LMG has identified several improvement points.
One of these points is the metal to metal bearing area. The grease required for these bearings will end up in the maritime environment. The GREENFORCE ball joints enable the use of a modern, self lubricating bearing system.
The flow pattern inside the ball joint also provides room for improvement. VOSTA LMG has managed to substantially reduce the flow resistance, turbulence and flow speed, which caused loss of energy and internal wear.
[mappress]
Dredging Today Staff, August 22, 2012; Image: vostalmg