Hi escapizm,
I write in connection to thread1083-344803, about the hydraulic synchronizing problem you solved last year (I am asuming everything went reasonably well, at least you had dealt with many contingencies). As it happens, I am working in a different company, which has larger machines that can manufacure the parts for a very large anular cylinder. We are now working with a project for a 1,200 ton force cylinder for R4 mooring chain, the central hole is 400 mm and stroke is 600 mm, equal to the length of each link.
We feel the anular cylinder you initially considered (with longer stroke) can be built and operated reliably, at reasonable cost. You can imagine: the guys in production are OK, the guys in engineering are excited, but the guys in finance are, as usual, skeptic. So, escapizm, I would need to ask if you think there would be demand for such a product, I can only guess it would be used for tensioning of FPSO mooring lines. Would you have been interested in such a product 18 months ago? Would you have rented it for maybe $30,000/month? Do you think other pros in the offshore industry would?
Your views are extremely valuable, and very much appreciated!
Aarne