CAPPING SUCCESSFULLY REPAIRED Skyriders successfully repaired the stainless steel coronal capping on the tip of a 106-m-high smokestack
In May this year, rope access specialist Skyriders successfully repaired the stainless steel coronal capping on the tip of a 106-m-high smokestack located at a copper mine in Phalaborwa, Limpopo.
Skyriders marketing manager Mike Zinn explains that a vast amount of corrosive gasses comes out of the smoke stack which could eat away a mild steel capping, noting that stainless steel is, therefore, better suited to this type of environment.
Lightning strikes, high winds, thermal variations and the velocity of the exhaust gases from the stack at the copper mine caused the capping to become misaligned.
Skyriders’ task was to realign the various stainless steel components, before welding them to a belt to secure it.
The biggest challenge Skyriders faced during this project was accurately welding the steel at a height of 106 m as well as getting electricity to the top of the stack to power the welding machine.
The challenge of accurately welding at the required height was mitigated as Skyriders deployed a Level 3 senior rope access technician, trained to weld stainless steel specifically for this project, as well as two additional welders and two general assistants.
The equipment was hoisted up onto a 60 m platform and then from there it was hoisted further up to the top platform at a height of 102 m.
Realigning all the components took four days. This involved cutting, welding and repositioning the sections to make sure they were aligned with one another.
Zinn says: “The general equipment used to complete the repair work was the same [as the equipment used on previous Skyriders projects]. What was new for us was the stainless steel part – our welders were very proficient in normal steel welding and they had to be trained to weld the stainless steel”.
Meanwhile, during this month, Skyriders will send a team to Mali, in West Africa, to work on an Australian-owned gold mine that the company has visited regularly since 2008.
“Skyriders will be working on a new smoke stack. We are going there to do 100% internal and external inspection and to carry out a number of minor repairs that we picked up from the last time we did an inspection in October 2014,” concludes Zinn.