Compressor and generator hire company Rand-Air played a significant role in the delivery of mission-critical equipment and service to energy and chemicals group Sasol’s Synfuels nitrogen project, it reported in October.

The company, which is part of international engineering group Atlas Copco, says the project was delivered on time and within budget.

Sasol Synfuels is located in the town of Secunda, in the coalfields of Mpumalanga, and is the second extraction refinery producing oil from coal after Sasolburg. The plant underwent significant upgrades in August and, as such, required an increase in reforming capacity.

Further investigation revealed that the nitrogen to be used for drying in the process plant needed to be compressed.

“Knowing that we had the technology available, a face-to-face meeting was organised with the customer the next day, where we presented the option of using our Atlas Copco oil-free PTS916 compressors, fitted with nitrogen kits,” explains Rand-Air account manager Melanie Lake.

She adds that to support Rand-Air’s offer, the proposed solution was highlighted with reference to a previous project in Madagascar the company was involved with.

“The installation was challenging and we had to come up with a number of innovative solutions to meet the specific challenges of this project.

“The compressors Rand-Air supplied were initially designed as oil-free air compressors and were modified to accommodate for the flow of nitrogen,” Lake explains.

Apart from the supply of compressors, safety was a critical issue and to reduce some of the potential risks, several procedures were implemented, such as the Lock Out, Tag Out (Loto) procedure. This saw Rand-Air personnel servicing machines on site identifying themselves and informing affected people of the nature and duration of the intervention, during which there was no air supply. They also double-checked to ensure that the Loto was done properly.

Also, all hoses were tested and certified to reduce the risk of hoses bursting on site and to prevent the compressor units from running out of diesel, which could directly have affected the customer’s production. All compressors were programmed with a new fuel level program and on reaching 25% fuel capacity, a yellow light would begin to flash and a warning would show on the screen.

Sasol process engineer Johan Visagie notes that the commissioning and start-up of the plant also required a steady flow of compressed nitrogen.

“Sasol approached Rand-Air to supply it with six Atlas Copco oil-free compressors for this project, which required reliable, oil-free compressor equipment,” he says.

Visagie points out that these compressors were installed parallel to each other, thereby ensuring that the required total flow rate and pressure of nitrogen gas was achieved.

“Sasol was confident about proceeding with the project based on Rand-Air’s confidence that the compressors would serve their purpose, their utmost professionalism and several in-depth technical consultations about the proposed installation,” he explains.

Visagie notes that careful management of the project and the equipment was required, owing to the compressors being used in an application for which they were not originally designed. A Rand-Air technician was on site at all times to facilitate this.

“As an experienced process engineer, I know the value of completing a component of a key project ahead of schedule, in a competent and professional manner. “It is, quite frankly, invaluable. “The continuous flow of nitrogen was mission-critical to this project, as final com- missioning would never have been able to take place without it,” he enthuses.

“Sasol is typified by its stringent focus on safety and quality, and requires the same level of dedication from its suppliers.

“We are proud to have been selected by a customer with such high standards for what was a challenging and interesting project, both technically and operationally, to execute,” concludes Rand-Air GM Louwrens Erasmus.