African Fusion July 2023

SAIW Member profile: ND Engineering

ND Engineering: SA’s exotic materials

African Fusion talks to Elvis Green and Mark Ackerman of ND Engineering about their company’s comprehensive fabrica tion capability, which ranges from state-of-the art fabrica tions using modern and exotic alloys to cost-saving repairs of plant equipment for a multitude of industries.

N D Engineering, according to the company’s GM, Mark Ackerman, is now operating out of a huge purpose-built facility with 10 000 m 2 of under-roof fabrication space. “Back in 2018, we were extremely fortunate to find this property, which we developed and then built into a state-of-the-art workshop facility, customised to suit our fabrication needs. We have been here for close on five years and have already run out of space. So, we are in the process of developing the property next to our existing facility to build another, again customised to suit our expanding fabrication needs. Soon we will have two shops of almost the same size, which will enable us to separate carbon steel fabrication work completely from the stainless steels and the exotic alloy-based materials we are now routinely using,” he tells African Fusion . The new facility will be on the land currently being used as a lay down area for the large vessels and equipment going into Africa, as a staging area for loading the trucks that come into the property. “We now want to develop it into a workshop for CNC plasma coating and all carbon steel heat exchanger refurbishments,” Acker man explains. “Our heritage as world-class fabricator began in the mid-1970s in South Africa’s pulp and paper industry, where we pio neered the use of cold stretched 316 stain

less steel vessels in SA. Later, SAF 2205 du plex stainless steel materials were used for their greater strength, allowing for thinner materials to be used in manufacturing pulp digesters. A typical vessel made of 316 with a shell thickness of 32 mm could be reduced to 24 mm by cold stretching, but by using duplex stainless, we were able to deliver vessels with wall thicknesses just 18 mm,” recalls Elvis Green, the company’s MD. “We quickly developed a skills set in exotic materials, which enabled us to begin servicing a much wider range of industries: chemical and petrochemical industries, for example, where we are specialists in acid and leach applications, as well as the mining, power, petrochemical, sugar and fertiliser sectors. We have been blessed to have a good spread of work, locally and internationally, with several global sup pliers using us to manufacture their OEM products. We even build equipment directly for some OEMs, which is exported back into Europe with CE markings,” Green adds. Ackerman says that ND Engineering has become particularly well-known for its heat exchangers, some of which are exceptional ly large, while others operate in highly cor rosive environments at the upper reached of material capabilities. These high-end systems/units are subjected to helium leak testing and undergo eddy-current testing of the tubing after installation and welding, which is now almost all done using fully

ND Engineering has developed a skills set in exotic materials, which enables the company to service the high-end needs of industries in the chemical, petrochemical and mining sectors. automatic orbital welding with Polysoude tube-to-tube sheet welding machines,” he says, adding that some of the most exotic materials are routinely being welded with this equipment. This capability has created a steady workflow for the company. “We have also explored and developed other opportuni ties, such as pioneering and development work on the extremely complex rotary distribution systems that manage the distribution of the process streams for ion exchange processes that use resins. For the mining industry, Ackerman cites the pioneering work the company has done on modern leaching autoclaves being constructed using newly developed alloys: “We have been working very closely with a couple of the mining houses to put fully alloyed autoclaves into areas where they have never been used before – and this is proving very successful!” he exclaims. Leaching involves boiling crushed min erals to dissolve out the mineral products: in acid solutions at high temperatures and pressures. “Autoclaves are usually brick- or lead-lined, but with the mining houses we have managed to use alloys that can better resist the extremely corrosive conditions, replacing the need for lining with a more efficient and more environmentally friendly solution that results in less downtime for repairing linings, and a much longer life,” he explains.

ND Engineering’s six 100 to 120 t Gas-to-Gas radial-flow heat exchangers for the acid industries in North Africa.

6

July 2023

AFRICAN FUSION