Nuclear Power Generation

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Because ensuring a leak-free solution is critical. It has to be Hydratight.

For more than 100 years, Hydratight has provided world-class bolted joint solutions, assessing and managing joints to ensure leak-free start-ups. Today, we continue to set international standards in joint integrity—but we’re so much more than just a bolting and on-site machining company.

Because even the tiniest leak can be costly and time consuming to repair, we manage every joint on a project for leak-free start-ups and production, which in turn removes the threat of environmental impact caused by unsafe joints. Safety continues to be the most important aspect of our business. We are a global organization making a real difference to the industries and communities we work in, committed to improving safety, operational efficiency and uptime.

Because you require the support of an innovative partner committed to your success, we not only offer unrivalled service on a global scale, including customer training and software development; but also design and manufacture quality tools and equipment for bolted joint solutions to the highest standards. Our certified teams are dedicated to working closely with you, assessing and managing every joint on your project to prevent leaks from ever occurring, year in, year out.

Because you value safety and reliability, we work to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards in everything we produce, from manufacturing torque and tension bolting equipment to mechanical connectors, from on-site service to creating custom solutions in line with client specifications.

It means that whenever you need a complete joint integrity solution, whichever industry sector you’re in, you can rely on us to get it 100% right first time, every time. This is why it has to be Hydratight.

Engineering Driven Safety Focused Solutions Engineering Driven Safety Focused Solutions

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Experience is essentialAfter pioneering the first nuclear tensioning system, Hydratight now operates in many of the world’s nuclear plants, including more than 80% in the USA. As one company, we provide specialized bolted joint integrity products and services that ensure leak-free performance, reliable operation, and shorter, more predictable outages.

For a nuclear power plant to perform the purpose of generating electricity, many different systems must perform their functions.

Reactor pressure vesselsReactor pressure vessels (RPVs) contain the nuclear fuel in nuclear power plants. RPVs are rarely opened, but when they are speed, accuracy and safety are critical requirements. Recognizing the need to reduce critical path time in nuclear power plants and lessen manpower requirements and their associated dose, Hydratight engineers introduced the “SCT” (self-contained tensioner) for RPV stud de-tensioning and tensioning during vessel disassembly and re-assembly.

Steam generators and pressurizersSteam generators are heat exchangers used to convert feedwater into steam from heat produced in a nuclear reactor core. The pressurizer is the component in the reactor steam path system which provides a means of controlling the system pressure. Hydratight’s Multi Stud Tensioning Systems (MSTs) are portable tools designed to simultaneously tension all studs on manway access points such as steam generator primary and secondary manways. Our Manway Handling Devices are design to complement the operation of the MST and assist in the installation and removal of manway covers.

Balance of plantOur range of specialist equipment, such as portable machining, torque, and tension products; and on-site technical support will not only save you time and money, but also improve safety, address ALARA concerns, and help raise reliability for your plant.

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RPV tensioning systemsJust about all industries and equipment use bolted joints; and properly tightened fasteners can prevent bolted joint failures. In the less-forgiving application of nuclear power plants, tension rather than torque is the preferred method to tighten fasteners because it provides more accurate and repeatable loads.

A stud tensioner hydraulically applies a tensile load to a bolt or stud. The tensioner maintains this load while the nut is seated against the bolted surface. Releasing the tensioner transfers the load to the nut. This residual load is generally a function of applied force and length of the bolted connection or joint.

For best results, a tensioning tool should match the specific application. The quick connect / disconnect design of Hydratight’s Self Contained Tensioner (SCT) is based on more than 30 years of field proven use. It can engage annular groove design or helical thread form RPV studs.

The SCT incorporates a pumping system thereby eliminating the need for a central pumping station which currently takes up valuable floor space and requires multiple distribution hoses and cables to each stud tensioner. Rigging hoses, a labor intensive requirement at most sites, is now eliminated.

It also includes Hydratight’s advanced features of elongation monitoring to eliminate potential trim passes, full hydraulic operation, electronic safety interlock limit switches, LCD text style communication system between tensioners, and hoist and tractor control handles for easy movement on the monorail by one operator.

SCT generation II

SCT – covers removedSCT with QD or QD-H latching designs

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The remote SCT control panel allows a single operator to oversee and coordinate all critical tension tasks from a central point on the refuel floor, allowing crews to concentrate on:• Positioning and lowering the tensioner over the stud and nut• Turning the switch to latch the tensioner pull system to the stud• Turning the drive gear for nut rotation• Turning the switch to unlatch the tensioner pull system from the stud and

raise the tensioner

Stud de-tensioning and stud tensioning are both normally part of the costly reactor critical path. Shortening that critical path can save utilities thousands of dollars in outage costs and replacement power costs.

SCT control panel

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RPV tensioning systemsThe most time consuming aspect of stud tensioner operation is during the stud engagement. A thread-on tensioner, even with an air powered assist unit, takes between 3 to 8 minutes to screw onto or off of the RPV stud. The QD-H Tensioner from Hydratight takes between 5 to 10 seconds to unlatch or latch the pull system to the stud.

The Quick Disconnect—Helical (QD-H) Tensioner from Hydratight offers full hydraulic operation: latching, pressurization, piston return and unlatching.

The QD-H was perfected to latch onto common helical 8 pitch thread forms on existing studs. The operator seats the tensioner on the RPV flange and then merely turns a switch that hydraulically activates an inner closure system that either opens or closes the set of split segments. It includes similar fail-safe limit switches as the well-designed QD version does, and incorporates the latest technology in communication features connecting the tensioner operator to the central pumping system operator.

Features:• Full hydraulic operation: latching, pressurization, piston return and unlatching• LCD screen communication system with text instructions and feedback to

the EPN pump• Elongation Monitoring System (EMS) to assure proper nut seating and load

verification before proceeding• Electronic limit switches to monitor piston travel (over stroke and return) and

pull system latching• Hoist and tractor control handles for one-man operation on the vessel

EPN Pumping SystemHydratight’s EPN-series Pumping System unit offers increased hydraulic flow rate with improved accuracy through a closed loop pressure circuit. The result is faster tensioner operation and more repeatable loading from series to series of studs leading to “trim pass” reduction.

QD-H RPV stud tensioner

EPN pumping system

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Stud insertion and removal toolsHydratight also supplies Electric Stud Drive Tools for safe removal and re-installation of RPV studs in minutes.

The Electric Stud Drive Tool (ESDT) from Hydratight offers smooth, quiet operation in a noisy environment and relieves workers from the dangerous role of absorbing breakaway torque during stud rotation. Its electronic control provides an exact stud positioning during thread-in to assure consistent stud projections around the vessel and to prevent binding due to hitting the bottom of the stud hole.

It is easy to handle, position, and operate by one person. The pneumatic weight compensation keeps the stud ‘weightless’ during rotation which prevents any stud, stud hole, or thread damage.

Features:• Load compensation provides zero stud weight effect during operation• Quick connect stud gripper• Electric drive provides smooth and quiet operation• Height of the stud during threading/unthreading is monitored and displayed

on the digital readout indicator

Benefits:• Safely threads studs in and out of the nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV)

in minutes• Easy to handle, position and operate by one person• The operator doesn’t experience any harmful torque during stud rotation• Pneumatic weight compensation keeps the stud ‘weightless’ during rotation

which prevents any stud, stud hole, or thread damage.

Electric Stud Drive Tool (ESDT) generation II

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Other toolsIn addition to RPV tensioning systems and RPV stud insertion and removal tools, Hydratight offers a host of other products to make RPV efforts more efficient and effective.

Stud Elongation Measurement System III (SEMS III)The SEMS III instantly calculates the elongation and determines if it is acceptable. The actual measurements are attained through the dedicated pod design to mate with site’s reactor pressure vessel (RPV) stud, the measuring rod and the digital depth micrometer, which provides the readings. The data acquisition element simply plugs into the dial indicator component for downloading readings.

Custom Hoists, Tractors and Control HandlesHydratight offers motorized tractors, electric hoists and dedicated control handles to move Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) stud tensioners in a safe, reliable and fast manner. Integrated hoist and tractor control handles can be tailored to control tool hoisting, linear tractor movement and offloading beam processes. The benefit of the built-in controls is that the operator now has full operational control of the movement of the tensioner therefore potentially removing additional personnel from the RPV cavity.

LSA Shipping and Storage ContainersWhether your need is ‘over the road’ shipping to share equipment with another site, or on-site storage outages, Hydratight can provide dedicated custom containers to protect your equipment. Custom boxes can be provided to meet your needs in a variety of configurations.

Test Block AssembliesWith today’s stud tensioners utilizing synchronized and integrated limit switches and cables, it is important to perform full system testing prior to outage use. Hydratight can provide a Test Block Assembly, which is an assembly of a short, simulated Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) stud in a large reaction block to permit full pressure testing of a stud tensioner.

LSA shipping/storage containers

Test block assemblies

Custom hoists

SEMS III

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Steam generator and pressurizer productsWe specialize in addressing difficult projects that demand accurate loads within tight space envelopes, while also seeking ease of operation and performance. Our custom-built devices are designed to suit any specific application and are engineered to comply with ALARA objectives.

Multi Stud Tensioning (MST) systemsMSTs enable the installation and removal of system closures to be completed rapidly in high radiation areas. Therefore, its application is also consistent with meeting ALARA objectives. Hydratight can custom-build this tool for virtually any nuclear facility.

Multi Stud Tensioning (MST) systems are capable of simultaneously tensioning every stud in a joint. To minimize the risk of leaks our MST systems are the most accurate, controlled, and quickest means of loosening and tightening studs on primary manway, secondary manway, hand-hole and inspection ports; also suitable for use on pumps, and valves.

By designing MSTs in segments, Hydratight has minimized the weight that technicians need to lift into place. Operators quickly and easily connect each segment to the joint and link them together to provide equal loading. Additional innovations, such as using asymmetrical ram areas and strong, forged lightweight materials, allow for 100% coverage which can reduce bolting time by as much as 75%.

Manway Handling DevicesHydratight’s Manway Handling Devices (MHD) offer safe, efficient and effective manipulation for primary manway covers on the underside of a steam generator vessel. The removal of manway covers from a steam generator can be a difficult and dangerous task. Many plants use chain-falls or other mechanisms to lower and raise the covers, which can weigh 1,000 lbs (454 kg) or more. Hydratight’s Manway Handling Devices are designed with personnel safety and job efficiency as primary objectives.

Multi-stud tensioners

Manway handling devices

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Balance of plant—productsThe issues of plant life management and license extension are receiving increasing emphasis in many countries. Our range of specialist equipment and technical support will not only save time and money, but will also improve safety, address ALARA concerns, and help raise reliability for your plant.

Portable Machining SolutionsWith patented machinery and experienced technicians, Hydratight is a leading worldwide supplier of on-site machining solutions. We are an OEM with innovative and portable tools that cut and bevel pipe, bore, grind, mill, shaft machine, tube prep and heat-treat.

Applications:• Valve and pump maintenance• Heat exchanger maintenance• Steam piping replacements• Pump and motor base machining• Nut-splitting and stud removal• Journal turning, shaft repair, and tire grinding

Torque and Tension ProductsAt Hydratight we have a strong reputation for our range of hydraulic torque wrenches and tensioners. They are strong, reliable and designed with the user in mind. We have designed innovative features that increase the efficiency and speed of use across both of these series of products.

Applications:• Gas turbine casings• Valves and piping• Couplings• Generator alignment

Weld Testing and IsolationLocalized pressure testing is a means of verifying the integrity of a welded or formed joint or flange installation/weld which has been made on a piping system. Typically these are made as a repair or modification of part of a process piping system which is undertaken during plant shutdown activities. Hydratight carries tools that, once set in position, provide a verified vapor barrier allowing hot work activities to take place safely on-site.

Hydraulic bolt tensioners

Hydraulic torque wrenches

geniSYS™ II portable CNC mill

Pipe cutting and beveling

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Balance of plant—serviceOur trained technician crews are multi-role, cross-functional teams that can serve as on-site resources for maintenance, or emergent needs.

Piping ServicesHydratight performs field machining and heat treating services for FAC piping replacements. Hydratight has the expertise with our trained Field Service Engineers to provide field machine cutting and beveling of piping components with our series of NB, MS and HD Clamshells. Covering from 2” to 86” diameter, Hydratight has the coverage for all applications.

Preventative and Scheduled MaintenanceLife extension of plants depends on the reliability of existing systems within the plant. Specific areas of concern are FAC (Flow Accelerated Corrosion) and IGSCC (Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking) of aging piping. Hydratight provides the required measure of maintenance through a system of “flat topping” a weld for UT weld inspection. If piping or major components are deemed to require replacement, Hydratight can provide the field machining, heat treating and controlled bolting services during outage.

Heat Treating ServicesHydratight can provide field pre-weld and post-weld heat treating service during piping or component change outs utilizing either electrical resistance or induction heating methods. Hydratight can support your project with the latest technology in wireless operations that are controlled at the site, which has an ALARA benefit for the work.

Torque and Tension ServicesOur highly trained and competent service teams inspire confidence that all bolting operations, whether torque or tension bolt loading, will be carried out efficiently and safely, ensuring the correct bolt loads are achieved and not just applied. We incorporate our innovative purpose-built products and multi-skilled crews to provide an unrivalled quality of service and value for money.

Rental and SupportThe unique flexibility of the Hydratight approach is designed to ensure our customers receive totally satisfactory and cost-effective service at every stage. With our industry-leading product range, whether you choose to rent or purchase, you will experience outstanding value in both bolting and machining. We work with our customers to understand their projects and to define the best solution for their needs, timeframe and location of work.

Email us at: solutions@hydratight.comOr find your local representative at:hydratight.com/contact

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