EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
Scope of work:
A leading platinum group required emergency standby power generation in the event of a total Eskom power outage. EHL was involved from the inception of the project and was appointed as the electrical and instrumentation consulting engineers.
Responsibilities included tie-in and commissioning of 21 containerised 3 MW diesel generators rated at 11 kV and 6,6 kV dependent on the plant system voltage. Generators were installed and commissioned on nine sites.
Key Facts
Client:
Leading platinum mining group
Locations:
-
Rustenburg
-
Bafokeng
-
Rasimone
-
Amandelbult
-
Modikwa
-
Twickenham
-
Union
Project summary:
-
Feasibility study
-
Construction and commissioning
-
Cost budget estimate
-
Technical Specifications
-
Technical adjudications
-
Contractor recommendation
-
Construction and commissioning
Project duration:
18 months
Project value:
R 635 million
Commissioning a total of 15 MW of diesel generators
Testing five diesel gensets in parallel
WORLD'S FIRST RURAL FUEL CELL ELECTRIFICATION TRIAL PROJECT
Key Facts
Client:
Platinum producer and fuel
cell manufacturer
Locations:
Kroonstad, Free State
Project summary:
-
EPCM of all engineering disciplines including all drawings and single line diagrams
-
Enclosure including switchgear, batteries,inverters and the PLC
-
Overhead line distribution
-
Household small power and lighting
-
Security fence and alarm system
-
Procurement packages
-
Technical evaluation and recommendation, order placement and purchasing
-
Factory and site acceptance testing,commissioning and hand-over documentation
Project duration:
12 months
Project value:
R 15 million
Scope of work:
EHL was responsible for the full EPCM of the project. The scope of work was to build a fuel cell power generation system to conduct a 12-month trial in the rural community of Naledi Trust, Maokeng Township, Kroonstad, South Africa.
The system includes a battery bank and inverters operating within a minigrid and is designed to provide a total of 15 kW of fuel cell generated electric power. The system can generate peak power of 60 kW with the support of batteries.
Fuel cell technology at work
Commissioning in progress
SLAG CLEANING FURNACE 1 REBUILD
Scope of work:
The Slag Cleaning Furnace 1 rebuild project was to refurbish the furnace, and to make cooling modifications to optimize and increase the life cycle of the furnace and its refractory lining.
EHL was part of the feasibility study and implementation of the overall project. The project was a great success and was fully operational in 2010.
Key Facts
Client:
Leading platinum mining group
Locations:
Platinum Mines
Project summary:
-
Pre-Feasibility
-
Design
-
Engineering
-
Execution
-
Commissioning
Project duration:
6 Years
Project value:
R 154 million
Success
Inside the furnace
DEVELOPMENT OF PFDs AND P&IDs FOR AN UNDERGROUND MINE
Key Facts
Client:
Major gold mine
Location:
Carletonville, western Gauteng
Project summary:
Development of process flow diagrams
(PFDs) and piping and Instrumentation
diagrams (P&IDs) for a gold mine in the
West-Wits region
Project duration:
16 Months
Project value:
R 1.2 million
Scope of work:
A major gold mining group required development of process flow and piping and instrumentation diagrams for the extension of an existing shaft. EHL was involved from the inception of the project and was appointed as the PFD and P&ID consulting engineers. The cost budget estimate was approved, orders placed, and equipment delivered. The final commissioning was completed in 2015.
EHL's responsibilities included consulting with various stakeholders and vendors on several processes i.e. backfill, ventilation, process water, refrigeration, ore handling and compressed air, enabling the development of the deliverables. EHL has consequently also participated in the detailed design process for the C&I and network systems for this specific project. All P&IDs were completed using DesSoft P&ID software.
Designs for an underground mine
PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM REPLACEMENT and INPUT/OUTPUT VERIFICATION
Key Facts
Client:
Major platinum producer
Location:
Mogalakwena, Limpopo Province
Project summary:
-
Verify PLC software configuration
-
Trace and verify instrument field and I/O connections
Project duration:
3 years
Project value:
R 28 million
Scope of work:
Our client was operating on a control system with major end-of-life or discontinued components. A decision was made to upgrade the installed control system. The software was configured to include the latest control philosophies. To ensure faultless switch over from one control system to the other, new networks (field, inter-PLC and DCS layers) were designed, installed and commissioned prior to installation of the new panels.
EHL's scope included the physical tracing and verification of instruments in the plant areas selected for upgrade, re-terminating of instruments into the new control panels and updating of all instrument loop diagrams. Redundant instruments and equipment was removed. EHL was also responsible for the management of the software input/output verification and upgrade to the latest control requirements.
Redundant equipment
New Installed equipment
PLC and DCS SOFTWARE UPGRADES
Key Facts
Client:
Major platinum producer platinum
Location:
Rustenburg Platinum Mines,
Project summary:
Execution phase
Project duration:
24 Months
Project value:
R 25.8 million
Scope of work:
The Siemens S5 Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) technology was obsolete. The cost of replacement of the S5 hardware was significantly higher than the cost of a new S7 equivalent. Therefore, the Siemens S5 PLCs were upgraded to Siemens S7 PLCs. Various plant process areas were controlled from two Siemens S5 PLCs. A failure in one PLC resulted in the interruption of multiple process areas. Plant availability improved by installing additional PLCs and re-assigning plant process areas to different PLCs. This ensured a better match between plant process and PLC dependencies.