Circulating reactor lifting and upgrade! Main hoist + tail-lifting dual-tube shaft-type lifting lugs: unlocking a new paradigm for safe and efficient lifting

Thread Content

On November 21, 2025, at the lifting site in Nishinakajima, at the signal of the crane operator’s whistle, two crawler cranes sounded their horns in response; the loop reactor was lifted steadily amid the roar of the engines. After 1 hour, the lifting team successfully placed the 135-ton loop reactor in position. It is reported that as a key heavy-duty equipment in fields such as chemicals and energy, circular tube reactors feature large barrel weights, wide radial dimensions, thin wall thicknesses, and high requirements for precision during lifting and alignment. The design of the lifting lugs directly determines the safety and stability throughout the lifting process as well as the construction efficiency. For this project, both the main lifting hook and the tail-lifting lug adopt a tubular-axis design, overcoming the limitations and shortcomings associated with traditional lifting lugs in terms of load handling. This design takes into account the conditions under which cranes are used for lifting, ensuring safety margins as well as ease of construction, thereby providing comprehensive support for the lifting operations of ring tube reactors throughout the entire process. The tube-axis type lifting lugs are based on an integrated tube-axis structure; they are designed to fit the curvature and stress characteristics of the shell of ring-type reactors. The main lifting lug and the lifting lugs at the rear work together in accordance with the principles of load distribution during lifting, ensuring that the load is evenly distributed across the entire tube-axis area. This approach effectively avoids the problem of local stress concentration that occurs with traditional lifting lugs. Such lugs are suitable for lifting ring-type reactors weighing 100 tons or more. In situations involving extremely high lifting loads, the stress is transmitted smoothly. Precise stress calculations confirm that there is sufficient safety margin, thereby preventing potential issues such as lug deformation or uneven stress distribution during lifting, thus ensuring safety at all critical stages of the lifting process. In addition, the construction adaptability has been further improved; the tubular shaft structure features no redundant joining components, resulting in a regular shape that allows it to fit seamlessly with various lifting rigging elements. When the main crane is aligned and used to lift the tail section, the rigging fits closely, reducing the time needed for on-site adjustments to the rigging and lifting lugs, and thereby significantly improving the efficiency of alignment during lifting ； The disassembly and assembly process does not require complex tools; it is easy to disassemble after lifting, which reduces the costs associated with construction transitions. It is suitable for the lifting of ring-type reactors in various locations and under different operating conditions, helping to shorten the overall construction timeline. It is reported that, from design optimization to adaptation to the operating conditions of cranes, the dual-axis lifting lugs for main cranes and tail-lifting mechanisms in ring reactor systems offer core advantages in terms of safety and efficiency. They address the key challenges associated with lifting heavy ring-shaped structures, providing more reliable and efficient solutions for such lifting operations. This helps to ensure the safe and orderly progress of large-scale lifting projects, thereby enhancing the quality of construction in the field of heavy equipment installation.