AGI - Helideck Lighting Systems

AGI is an established British company, founded in 1915, manufacturing a wide range of defence, civil and industrial equipment for the UK and overseas markets.

Following 15 years' experience in the design and manufacture of advanced visual landing aids for the naval sector, AGI Ltd has developed a system for the oil and gas industry, offering a new generation of helideck lighting system.

OFFSHORE HELIDECK LIGHTING SYSTEMS

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), for a number of years, has been seeking to improve the performance of helideck lighting schemes on offshore landing platforms. Current systems suffer from three main problems:

• The location of the helideck on the platform is difficult to establish due to the lack of conspicuity of the perimeter lights - the yellow perimeter lights blend in with the yellow light from the sodium floodlights widely used for general platform lighting
• Helideck floodlighting systems are frequently a source of glare and loss of pilots' night vision on the deck, and further reduce the conspicuity of the helideck perimeter lights during the approach
• The performance of most helideck floodlighting systems in illuminating the central landing area is inadequate, leading to a lack of visual cues and the so-called 'black hole' effect

AGI's helideck lighting system was selected by the CAA and has recently been installed onto a North Sea offshore platform (Thames Alpha), owned by Exxonmobil, where flight trials have already commenced.

Once these trials have been successfully completed, it is expected that CAP 437 shall be upgraded to make it a mandatory requirement to replace traditional helideck floodlighting with an illuminated touchdown circle and 'H' identification marking.

OVERVIEW OF HELIDECK LANDING LIGHTING SYSTEM

AGI's system comprises an illuminated suite of LED visual landing aids, divided into two main areas. These landing aids have been developed to reduce pilot workload, thus increasing safety on making his approach.

The lighting system is clearly visible to approaching pilots, increasing their spatial awareness and visual cueing, whilst eliminating any potential for glare. The system comprises the following.

TOUCHDOWN CIRCLE LIGHTING SYSTEM

The touchdown circle lighting for offshore platforms is intended to be positioned at the mean radius of the painted circle on a helipad. Landing lights are equally spaced around the circle on the deck to provide a uniform coverage.

Using yellow coloured LED technology, the lighting provides excellent cueing both at the initial stages of approach as well as during the final stages of landing.

HELIDECK 'H' IDENTIFICATION MARKING

The helideck identification 'H' marking system, when assembled provides a 4m x 3m illuminated 'H'. The landing light units, which are identical in construction to those used in the touchdown circle lighting system, use green LED lighting technology which provides clear definition of the landing area and contrasts distinctly with the surrounding helideck landing platform.

RELIABILITY AND IN-SERVICE LIFE

LED lighting technology has been chosen for its superior shock, vibration and environmental performance when compared to other available technologies (electroluminescent and filament lamp). Advances in LED technology have resulted in a product which is more reliable than other available technologies and operational lifetime of 50,000 to 100,000 hours is achievable.

By using redundancy in the configuration of the LED lighting, an essentially maintenance-free installation can be achieved, with reduced through life costs. The availability of high intensity LEDs means that lighting installations can be powered from low voltage, low power supplies which are inherently safer.

A photometric analysis of the lighting requirements combined with experience of other AGI LED lighting designs has enabled a low-risk lighting solution to be created. By minimising power consumption and surface temperatures this has assured compliance to the ATEX Directive (Zone 2).