Mechserv of Arbroath, a specialist offshore design and manufacturing company, is in the final stages of completing the development of a diesel-electric generating set that the company claims is a ground-breaker.
Including research and development, the Scottish firm has invested about £400,000 in the project, which marries power generation with sound attenuation (noise reduction) technology.
Mechserv says that, currently, the closest similar unit on the market is rated 1,137kVA, compared with the new machine’s 1,674kVA capability, which represents an increase in prime power rating of some 70%.
Mechserv is growing rapidly, having hired in a further 23 employees over the past 12 months, taking the total workforce to 67 at present. Of this, a significant number are apprentices. Success with the new attenuated generator should lead to further job creation once it gains market traction.
The company, which has two facilities in Arbroath and one in the Middle East, says the package has already generated a great deal of interest within the local industry and has received several inquiries and encouraging comments.
The unit is currently in the final stages of testing and, according to Mechserv, on a recent visit, Knut Larson, general manager of Norwegian rental company HED, said that, despite the many difficulties this project presented, he would be adding it to his firm’s hire fleet.
Typical usage at HED would be well service and maintenance equipment, although Mechserv says it can also be used for emergency use or as part of an array of generator sets to provide or supplement grid or large power requirements, such as rig or plant power.
The Mechserv generator is designed to provide a portable power solution for the offshore industry and therefore to satisfy the stringent engineering and safety standards in the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea. Importantly, it also has a small footprint and so should fit aboard cramped “toothpick” platforms.
Mechserv says it has a significant commitment to R&D and the £400,000 ploughed towards the new generator includes doubling the firm’s capacity to carry out similar work in the future.
“Being a prototype unit, incorporating new main components has made this a challenging project,” said project engineer in charge Nyle Bassilious, who began his career with Mechserv seven years ago as a summer placement while studying mechatronics at university. After he graduated and gained further experience in the offshore industry, he returned to Mechserv as an experienced engineer to join the team as project engineer.
The firm has recently taken on another two apprentices – a mechanical technician and a fabricator/welder – bringing the apprentice tally to 11.
They range from apprentice mechanical design engineers to mechanical technicians and fabricator/ welders.