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SST Group provides Port of Fujairah with heating solutions

SST Group provides Port of Fujairah with heating solutions

SST Group has finished projects for Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. 5,900 meters of heating cables were produced, installed and commissioned at the one of the world largest sea gates.

Port of Fujairah is a deep multipurpose port located in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. It is the world second largest bunkering hub and the world third largest oil storage.

Fujairah Terminals is one of the Middle East’s most important economic, commercial, and logistics hubs. It handles dry and liquid bulk, containers and project cargo and an offshore terminal comprising four single-point moorings (SPMs).

The strategic location of the Port of Fujairah is certainly extremely advantageous, as Fujairah being the only one of the seven Emirates of the UAE, to lie wholly outside the Persian Gulf, on the Indian Ocean side of the Strait of Hormuz. This unique location provides easy access to a corridor out of the Persian Gulf that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz in case of any geopolitical tension. Tankers are often anchored in the Gulf of Oman while waiting for employment in the Gulf, and the Fujairah bunker market is ideally situated for bunkering both inbound and outbound vessels.

Construction of the port started on 1978 as part of the economic development of Fujairah and container operations commenced in 1982. The port assumed full operation on 1983. And now it is expanding its operational capacity to enable the handling of larger vessels and provide more services.

On June 6th, 2021 Fujairah Terminals’ expansion program was officially opened, which comprises infrastructure development and service enhancement projects for the key maritime hub.

The completion of the expansion works, which commenced three years ago, will increase the terminal’s general cargo throughput to 1.3 million tons, multi-purpose area of 25,000 sq. m for general cargo and Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) services, and increase container capacity to 720,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), with a total of 110,000 sq. m of container terminal area.

In addition, the quay wall has been extended from 760 to 1000 meters and the approach has been deepened from 12 meters to 15 meters to enable the port to handle larger vessels. Wholly owned by Abu Dhabi Ports, Fujairah Terminals has now passed a critical milestone in its long-term AED 1 billion program for the development of multi-purpose terminal facilities within Fujairah Port.

SST Thermal Solutions Middle East FZE,  part of SST Group, one of the largest global providers of industrial heat tracing systems, became a part of the Port of Fujairah expansion program. The company provided its solutions for maintenance of temperature of Black oil pipelines. These pipelines transport black oil from manifold to various berths inside Fujairah Oil Tanker Terminals. The project includes design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of electric heating systems, design and production of nine power & control panels as well as supply of accessories and thermal insulation.

The design works took 200 hours of engineers of SST Group’s office in India. To protect the pipelines from freezing and providing heat up and to maintain the temperatures required for the smooth transportation, the heating systems based on BTC self-regulating cables and SNF series resistance cables were chosen for the project. The total length of the cables supplied was 5,900 meters. The total electric heating systems power was 260 kW. The systems were commissioned in February 2019, Apr 2020 and Jun 2021 respectively and running successfully.

The project involves PTB junction boxes, an Ex-approve solution designed for connecting heating cables to power systems. Its enclosures, produced of glass reinforced polyester, ensures moisture and dust ingress protection IP66 and high corrosion stability. PTB junction boxes are used at chemical and petrochemical factories, on offshore platforms, oil processing plants and at other branches with potential availability of hazardous atmosphere (gas and combustible dust).

Self-regulating heating cable BTC is also an Ex-approved solution certified by ATEX, IECEx and VDE. BTC is an industrial grade self-regulating heating cable that can be used for temperature maintenance or freeze protection of pipelines and vessels. The power output adjusts automatically in response to the ambient temperature. Because of its self-regulating characteristics it will not overheat even when the cable is overlapped. This guarantees maximum safety and reliability. The installation of BTC heating cable is quick and simple and requires no special skills or tools. Because of its parallel construction the heating cable can be fitted on site to exact length without any complicated design calculations.

Series resistance heating cables SNF are specifically designed by SST Group for use in areas where high operating temperatures – up to 260 °C and high output power is required. By using fluoropolymer for external insulation, the SNF cable is particularly suitable for use in chemically aggressive and corrosive environments. Its special design ensures high mechanical strength (7J impact resistance) and can be easily attached to irregular objects such as pumps, valves and flanges.

“We are grateful to Port of Fujairah for trusting us and giving an opportunity to participate in the Port of Fujairah expansion. This is our first time working directly with the end user of an object of such an importance in the United Arab Emirates. We are sure that our heating systems will provide smooth operations of state-of-the-art infrastructure of Port of Fujairah,” comments Prashant Goyal, Regional Manager, SST Thermal Solutions Middle East FZE, who led the project from SST Group’s side.

SST Group has already installed its solutions at the Port of Fujairah infrastructure. In 2012 the company provided Vopak Horizon Fujairah Limited with heating system based on skin-effect IRSH–1500 for pipelines of 5,241 meters length.