Professional Power Products makes oil rig module

Professional Power Products, a power generation equipment manufacturer in Darien, has teamed with Caterpillar Inc. to build a custom 250,000-pound diesel generator set enclosure module for an oil rig off the coast of Brazil.
The module, named P61, is part of a $1 billion contract with Brazilian energy company Petrobras to build offshore platforms, said Ken Trent, vice president of sales for PPP.
P61 is unique because it is the largest PPP has ever made for use in an outdoor, fire proof setting.
The module is 470 inches long by 198 inches wide and 271 inches high, he said. It will ship in four sections from the Darien facility. Each section contains a Caterpillar diesel generator set.
PPP constructed the enclosure, sub-base fuel tank, controls and integration of systems for the module. That included air, crane, electric and fire systems. It’s made of ¼-inch steel welded wall panels and fire rated interior insulation, Trent said.
It took the company’s 200 employees about six months to design and six months to build the module—much longer than the average project, he said.
The company usually makes back-up generator modules for buildings, data centers and hospitals. It has made modules for oil rigs before, but never on this scale.
P61 underwent extensive fireproofing and inspection, Trent said. The American Bureau of Shipping and a professional engineer inspected the module to assure it was ready for use.
“It’s a single welded structure that’s passed all of the certifications for this package to sit outside on a vessel, on a platform, with this size engine in it,” he said. “Usually these things can break down to a smaller size, but given the fire proof and solid welding of the enclosure, it didn’t break apart like the other ones could.”
A custom 24-axle flatbed truck will bring each section of P61 to the Port of Milwaukee, and the module will float on a barge to Singapore to be added to the oil rig. The whole thing will then be floated to the Campos Basin off the coast of Brazil.
The first section was driven to the port on Friday and the shipping should be complete by the end of February, Trent said.
Professional Power Products has added about 12 employees in the last six months, largely because of this project, he said.