Allspeeds Limited, designers and manufacturers of the Webtool brand, have added the largest cutter to date to their portfolio of products, with the introduction of the HCV330.
Following requests from the industry to provide a larger version of their Webtool cutter, Allspeeds Limited built on their existing HCV270 design to produce this larger version, capable of cutting cable, umbilical or riser of diameter up to 330mm.
The Webtool HCV330 has been designed to cut cable, risers and umbilical in challenging working conditions, whether that be attached to a ROV, or deck-mounted for cutting in planned production environments.
The cutter is designed for 690 bar maximum input pressure for the main cylinder, with 210 bar maximum input pressure for the anvil, with a swept volume of 7.9 litres for the cut stroke and 2.6 litres for the return stroke.
With a weight in air of approximately 552kg and weight in water of 478kg, the cutter is of a robust steel construction that has been electroless nickel plated for greatly improved resistance to corrosion.
The standard cutter operates in the same way as the previously mentioned HCV270, whereby a hydraulically operated anvil entraps the cable before the ram drives the blade down towards the anvil, cutting through the incumbent cable, umbilical or riser.
As with the HCV220 and the HCV270 models, the HCV330 can be provided with a built-in safety interlock to ensure that the cutting blade cannot be activated without the anvil being fully engaged. This feature was introduced to help prevent breakages to the anvil, especially when being operated subsea, where visibility is poor, and the blade can be activated accidentally before the anvil is fully engaged.
It should be noted that whilst the Webtool range of cutting tools uses this guillotine action, whereby the blade pushes down on to the anvil, many others use a scissor or shear action, whereby two blades pass each other. This action is far less prone to rogue fibres remaining attached after cutting, which is why it is the preferred method when being used for emergency scenarios, when a clean quick cut is required.
As cable sizes continue to increase, so will the need for the cutters to increase in conjunction and although the largest cutter in production is currently the HCV330, there are already enquiries to increase this again to be capable of cutting 430mm diameter cable.
As the requirement for larger cutters continues to grow, Allspeeds Limited is more than capable of meeting the needs of the market with little fuss thanks to its many years of experience, coupled with their in-house engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
Should any further information be required on this, or any other product within our range, please check our website www.allspeeds.co.uk, contact us at info@allspeeds.co.uk or call us on +44 1254 615100.
