Plant maintenance ensures reliable supply
Maintaining boiler plants in South Africa is a challenge because of the fluctuating coal grade that is used, with the main cause of boiler-tube damage being fly ash erosion, owing to the high ash content in the coal.
It is, therefore, important to develop a main- tenance system which is suited to the condi- tions of the plant and that will adequately deliver the most appropriate solutions for the plant, says plant engineering and consulting company Carab Tekniva Group technical marketing and sales representative Billa Pansegrouw.
Carab Tekniva points out that its boiler plant maintenance support for State-owned power utility Eskom’s 13 fossil-fuel-fired power stations is a key component of Eskom’s fulfilment of its mandate to provide reliable and sustainable electricity for South Africa.
“As specialists in engineering, asset management and reliability, and backed by specialised software expertise, we provide accurate databases and drawings of the boiler plants, which portray each boiler’s maintenance history and, in turn, assist boiler engineers in creating accurate repair scope of work,” adds Pansegrouw.
Eskom mentions in its ‘Shift performance, grow sustainably’ divisional report for the year ended March 31, 2012, that a coal-fired generating unit requires necessary routine and periodic maintenance to ensure that it meets technical performance requirements and operates without violating any environmental laws.
Eskom’s website states that it relies on coal-fired power stations to produce about 90% of its electricity and uses more than 90-million tons of coal a year. Most of the coal used in South Africa is low quality, with a low heat value and a high ash content. The majority of South Africa’s coal deposits are found in eastern and south-eastern Gauteng and in the northern Free State. In Gauteng, it is generally found at shallow depths and in thick seams, whereas in the Free State, the seams are deeper and thinner, but of a higher quality. The Waterberg coalfield located in Limpopo, west of Lephalale, contains about 40% of South Africa’s coal resources.
Coal mining in South Africa is relatively cheap, compared with the rest of the world. These low costs have had and continue to have an important effect on the nation’s prosperity and potential for development.
“Being a South African-based company has helped us develop engineering solutions and services that are relevant to the South African market. “Given the varying conditions in terms of the technology and life span of each plant, we custom design solutions that will be applicable for each plant to achieve optimum maintenance performance at a specific power station,” Pansegrouw points out.
To perform this design work, Carab Tekniva says it employs skilled and highly-trained personnel and uses a range of in-house-devel-oped and commercial software. The in-house-developed software manages the inspection and repair history of each boiler individually. This software is also used to keep track of progress and optimise work flow of inspection and repair activities during outages.
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