Ballast for stable offshore foundations

High-density MagnaDense aggregate provides weight for offshore constructions ensuring a stable foundation to withstand the motions of the sea.

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Denise Roberts

Denise Roberts

Commercial Director Magnetite & Foundries

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Stable offshore structures with MagnaDense

We supplied offshore foundations all over the world with LKAB Minerals’ heavy MagnaDense to give them the right stability in seawater. Because MagnaDense has a density of up to 5.1 t/m3, this will, in particular, give the weight advantages as shown in the picture below. As you can see, the Archimedes Principle makes MagnaDense a great solution. The industry uses it as either loose ballast or mixed into concrete for the offshore ballasting services. Our natural mineral will provide more weight and less volume.

Offshore structures that benefit from heavy aggregate

Particularly for secure foundations, MagnaDense is a valuable aggregate because it provides weight and stability. Offshore platforms need to have considerable weight to withstand the motions of the sea and the stresses imposed on them.

For more information, we recommend you to view below video. It will help you to easily understand the benefits of MagnaDense heavy aggregate for a large variety of offshore applications.

Offshore submerged foundation applications benefitting from high density MagnaDense are:

  • Gravity Based Structures (GBS): MagnaDense enables you to build platform legs and sub-sea bases:
    • with more weight
    • and with an enhanced ability to resist sea currents
    • and to withstand icebergs.
  • Gravity-Based Wind Structures: the industry prefers to make pre-cast foundations as light as possible. Mainly, so they are easier to handle and cheaper to transport. At their final position on the sea, these will be ballasted with the high density aggregate to increase the weight of the foundation.
  • SPARS: a spar is a floating platform. This platform is used either for oil and gas storage or as a floating foundation for wind turbines. For SPARS you can use MagnaDense in two different ways:
    • as a loose ballast which you can pump into place with a water slurry
    • in concrete as a stabilizer around the base of the SPAR
  • Anchors for wave & tidal energy devices: to keep the wave power machinery in place MagnaDense can be used as an aggregate in concrete or as loose ballast in the anchor, foundation or counterweight for the device.
  • Concrete mattresses: the large ‘bed’ of concrete blocks held together in the shape of a mattress is used to keep pipelines at sea bottoms.  You can make the high density concrete blocks with MagnaDense as a heavy aggregate.
Offshore structures - heavy weight concrete

MagnaDense in underwater constructions

Because MagnaDense is non-toxic and doesn’t react to seawater, it is an ideal material for underwater usage as a gravity-based ballast. When you use this as loose ballast inside your construction, it is possible to recycle the MagnaDense. You can watch the video on the decommissioning of a floating loading platform which explains this more in detail.

Summarizing, the benefits of MagnaDense as ballast for gravity-based structures at underwater constructions are:

  • Potential cost reduction when ballasting at sea
  • Long underwater lifetime
  • Inert to seawater

Worldwide supply to offshore structures

LKAB Minerals provides MagnaDense to many offshore projects all over the world that need high density concrete or heavy ballast. In addition to owned mines and stocks in the Northern part of Sweden, LKAB Minerals has several stock locations worldwide.

Contact your local sales managers via the contact field at the bottom and ask for the project brochure, datasheets or about the MagnaDense possibilities for your upcoming offshore project.

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