AquaMaKKs Water Cooled Brakes for Oil Platform Mooring Winches

Wichita Clutch shipped its first AquaMaKKs brakes with composite water jackets in late 2008 and early 2009 to provide heavy-duty tension control on new mooring winches being installed on retrofitted offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The newest brakes in the Kopper Kool family were redesigned to provide up to 3,400 HP which is 35% more thermal horsepower absorption than the industry’s previous leader in the category. This is important as platform owners upgrade to larger anchoring systems to combat hurricane forces in the Gulf and throughout the world.

The brakes are designed with a reduced part count for simplified maintenance and easier disassembly and reassembly. Marine-grade materials and finishes are also standard which provide cost advantages over competitive units that require expensive optional equipment for corrosion protection in the harsh offshore environment.

The AquaMaKKs shim design makes it easy to maintain and adjust for wear, and a unique mounting pattern enables direct replacement to Wichita or competitors’ units, requiring no design changes for the customer. The combination of new engineering solutions makes AquaMaKKs ideal for field retrofits, rebuilds or new OEM applications.

In this application, the customer specified the 36-inch model with two copper wear plates. Designs with up to four copper friction discs are available, with optional HICO friction material that provides up to 50% higher torque

Download a PDF of this article