Chemical Technology April 2015

PETROCHEMICALS

The recently-established Voith Africa Power, Oil and Gas (POG) Division covers the full scope of maintenance, ser- vicing, upgrades and repairs across Africa. The company has filled a gap in the local market by providing a com- prehensive and dedicated aftermarket services offering. Voith is globally-recognised as the leading OEM for high-speed rotating equipment, including; high-speed gearboxes, fluid couplings, geared fluid couplings, vari- able speed drives, turbine controls and torque converters. Voith Africa POG vice president Derain Pillay states that the division boasts global technology and expertise that is customised for local operating conditions. “With our dedicated African presence, qualified experts assist local clients in configuring, operating and maintaining their equipment for each particular application in the most efficient and cost-effective manner,” he says. Pillay adds that the Voith Africa POG division also provides maintenance contracts in order to increase the availability of the equipment, while reducing downtime and unnecessary costs. The division supplies critical spares and skilled service engineers for breakdowns or upgrades upon request. Pillay highlights the fact that the Africa POG division also has unlimited access to Voith’s pool of global re- sources and expertise. “Should a complex challenge arise Adding value to the African power, oil and gas aftermarket

addition to lower blowdowns (eg, lower water use), reduced chemical costs by 20 % or $150K/month, saving $1,8 million/year. • EAM alerts give early warning of failure, enabling the me- chanical department to schedule repairs before they fail, cutting costs by $4,8 million. • Reduced process slowdowns from cooling tower cell shutdowns saved, on average, $350 000 per year in lost production. • Reduced downtime due to cooling tower failures in the alkylation plant eliminated losses that totaled as much as 2 587 BPD or $5,9 million. • Wireless monitoring improved process efficiency of the cooling towers between 10%-15%. The refinery estimates that the wireless monitoring system for one cooling unit paid for itself in a little over two weeks, and the company owning the refinery is proceeding to install similar systems at other facilities. Althoughmuch of this article dealt with the specific case of cooling towers in refineries, most of the principles discussed apply to any facility with large cooling towers such as power and chemical plants. For further information contact Michael Eksteen at Emerson SA on tel +27 11 451 3700, or email Michael.Eksteen@ Emerson.com z

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Chemical Technology • April 2015