Steinmüller Africa’s comprehensive maintenance services, which incorporate the application of numerical analysis techniques, not only restore equipment operation – they optimise plant performance and availability.

In 2007, Steinmüller Africa was contracted by a customer to replace the finned economiser tube bundles on several units of a previously mothballed station. Steinmüller Africa carried out numerical analysis of the boiler operations and developed an optimised economiser design which improved boiler operating behaviour and, at the same time, reduced peak flue gas velocities through the economiser in order to minimise fly ash erosion in various areas.

The replacement economiser resulted in an improvement in the boiler steam production capacity as well as increasing the final steam temperatures which helped the boiler steam generation capacity and reliability. Recent analysis of the boiler tube leak data on six boilers where these modifications were undertaken indicates that the tube leaks have decreased by 39% relative to the two unmodified boilers. “This is a clear indication of the significant improvement in fly ash erosion tube leak performance which can be achieved with engineering-driven maintenance practices,” explains Warwick Ham, Principal Engineer at Steinmüller Africa.

By focusing on analysing boiler operation, Steinmüller Africa’s engineers can predict high wear areas inside the boilers, and optimise outage scope to ensure maximum post-outage plant availability. “The major benefits of process optimisation through maintenance are twofold: increased boiler availability and efficiency leading to electrical power generation improvement,” elaborates Ham. The company’s highly skilled engineering team are experts in analysing and designing coal, oil and gas fired boilers, pulverised fuel burners, high pressure and temperature (HP/T) piping, HP and LP heaters, process equipment as well as other pressure parts. “Other fields of expertise include the analysis of various power cycles, the optimisation of the boiler island, as well as plant testing and commissioning services,” explains Ham.

Comprehensive maintenance solutions

Steinmüller Africa offers customers across industries extensive aftersales support and the full spectrum of maintenance services, including optimisation field services. It also offers specialist welding solutions including explosive welding.

Explosive welding is a niche technology with application in specific circumstances. The technology is able to fuse tubes to tube plates or headers in high-pressure heat exchangers. In this application, traditional welding methods are time consuming; whereas explosive welding reduces welding time with a higher quality control and possibility to significantly reduce repair costs. It also achieves tube expansion behind the weld zone and thus removes crevice corrosion. This leads to a sound joint that maintains integrity over a prolonged period even under harsh operating conditions. “Steinmüller Africa is the only company in South Africa that is qualified and approved to perform explosive welding for the power generation sector,” states Ham.

“Our service quality, as well as the environmental, technical and safety accreditation standards give our customers peace of mind in knowing that they can expect efficient and reliable service which enables them to concentrate on their core business,” concludes Ham.