Additional pumps supply for power stations

16th May 2014

By: Mia Breytenbach

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

  

Font size: - +

Pumps and pump components manufacturer, servicer and supplier APE Pumps received pumps supply, installation and refurbishment contracts worth R11-million for State-owned power utility Eskom’s power stations this year, APE Pumps GM Richard Rudling tells Engineering News.

While APE Sangus – currently APE Pumps – has, since its inception in the 1950s, been contracted to supply pumps to Eskom’s power stations, the new contracts are an addition to the standard multimillion-rand work that the company does for Eskom every year, he notes.

“We will supply cooling water recirculation pumps and pumps for water treatment plants to various Eskom power stations, as well as vertical turbine pumps, end suction pumps and horizontal split case pumps,” Rudling says, noting that the company is closely involved in supplying pumps to nine Eskom power stations.

The cooling water recirculation pump is a concrete volute pump with a stainless steel impeller, driven by electric motors using 1 600 kW to 2 000 kW to pump water as a drench over the pipelines containing the steam being condensed, which runs from the turbine and back to the boiler in a power station.

Installations and Repairs
APE Pumps supplied a cooling water recirculation pump to the Lethabo power station, in the Free State, about two months ago, and will install two new cooling water recirculation pumps at another power station in Mpumalanga.

Meanwhile, the company will also repair pumps at power stations in Mpumalanga, which includes the repair of three pumps at Camden power station, one pump at Arnot power station and two pumps, which will also be upgraded, at the Duvha power station.

Rudling expects these installations, repairs and upgrades to be completed later this year and at the beginning of 2015.

Order Increase
Although orders from Eskom generally comprise a significant amount of the company’s budget every year, Rudling notes a slight increase in additional orders for the supply of spares in the past year, in addition to the significant amount of additional work for Eskom this year.

A key factor driving this increase is the lack of, or overdue, maintenance on these pumps, Rudling says. “This pump is one of the most critical elements in the power station, as it cools the recirculation steam so that it turns into water before it is fed to the boiler again.”

He adds that cooling water recirculation pumps should be inspected and maintained every two to three years.

“If these pumps do not function, there is no water to be converted to steam to turn the turbines, creating the same effect as a power station running out of coal.”

Further, Rudling suggests that, owing to the 2008 power crises, when Eskom had to initiate load-shedding because of electricity supply constraints, more pressure was placed on the older, previously mothballed, power stations. These stations, which currently also have to generate additional electricity to ensure enough power supply this winter, require new installations, refurbishments and upgrades to their pumps.

Engineering News reported in January that the last of Eskom’s R25.1-billion return-to-service projects, which involved the demothballing of three coal-fired power stations in Mpumalanga – Camden, Grootvlei and Komati – for a combined capacity of 3 800 MW, were completed in October 2013.

The three stations will each have an operating life of between 15 and 20 years.

The Camden power station, near Ermelo, was the first of Eskom’s mothballed power stations to be returned to service and was reintroduced to the grid at the end of July 2008 and officially launched by President Jacob Zuma in 2010. The station will add 1 520 MW to the grid.

Rudling notes that, owing to the delays in maintenance, new work for the company to supply and refurbish pumps for these power stations is “rushing in now, as Eskom aims to ensure enough electricity provision and that the lights are kept on this winter”.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION