MechChem Africa April 2018

Pierre Goosen, general manager, Hytec Engineering, explains that getting clients’ replacement cylinders in the shortest timeframe possible has always the primary aim of the company’s Service Exchange Programme.With an increased stockholding of 242 cylinders, clients can now expect even shorter downtime periods. Cylinder downtime lowered with extended range

Bezuidenhout, ACTOM Turbo Machines’ managing director. “In addition, we had to ensure that the tolerancesbetweenthevariouscomponents were strictly adhered to, these being espe- cially critical in this instance as the compres- sor is a four-stagehigh-speedunit operating at speeds of between just below20000 rpm and more than 33 000 rpm.” Both the first- and second-stage impel- lers and pinions had tobe replacedby newly manufactured units. “We manufactured all thesetoatoleranceof0.02mm,whichiswell within the norm to ensure extra protection againstanyriskofdamageduringoperation,” Bezuidenhout points out. All the rotating components, comprising the gear set, impellers andpinions, werebal- anced in accordance with the international ISO 1940 specification. The compressor was then assembled and delivered to site where, togetherwith themotor asmodified byMarthinusen&Coutts, itwas installedby ACTOM Turbo Machines technicians in Air Products’ plant. q sponse rates by lowering the lead times on exchanged units.” Thenewstockholdingwill complement the company’s current extensive Liebherr service exchange stock, which includes various-sized hydraulic cylinders from leading brands such as CAT, Komatsu, Volvo and Hitachi, that have long proven their success in Africa’s earthmoving, drilling and surface mining operations. While amajority of this stockwill be set-aside solely for the Service Exchange Programme, clients can also purchase excess stock from Hytec Engineering’s facility in Johannesburg. HytecEngineeringensurestheoperational efficiency of all second-hand and refurbished cylinders byadhering to strictOEMstandards through its CAD facility, reverse engineering services as well as its specifically designed cylinder test bench that tests stroke, sizing and leak detection on every cylinder. “Every component is inspected and tested uponarrival at our factory,” addsGoosen. “We also monitor the amount of times we reuse a component before scrapping it to ensure that no cylinder is at the risk of material fatigue.” Once a cylinder has been tested, the auto- mated systemgenerates a certificate that can be used for quality control by clients. The Service Exchange Programme is available through Hytec Engineering’s Johannesburg-based operations and is supported throughout Africa by the Hytec Group’s network of 35 branches in South, East, West and Central Africa. q

W ith the purchase of an ad- ditional 242 cylinders for use in its Service Exchange Pro- gramme, Hytec Engineering has recently made another commitment to

lowering cylinder downtime. The increased stock, along with additional sales represen- tatives, enables clients to better maintain a continuous production in their mining and industrial operations. Through Hytec Engi­

neering’s exclusive Service Exchange Programme, cli- ents can exchange defective hydraulic cylinders for fully functioning units while theirs are repaired, ensuring mini- mal downtime at their op- erations. “The primary aim of the Programme has always been to get clients’ replace- ment cylinders in the shortest timeframe possible,” com- ments Pierre Goosen, general manager, Hytec Engineering. “With this increased stock- holding, we’re now able to offer clients even faster re-

Hytec Engineering has strengthened its Service Exchange Programme with 242 additional cylinders.

Critical components remanufactured for fast track contract ACTOM Turbo Machines, a division of ACTOM, recently manufactured high precision impellers and pinions for a large 190kg/h, 20bar pressure, integrally geared, multi-stage centrifugal compressor to re- place components that had been destroyed when the compressor failed. and suppliers of gas and chemical products to industry, awarded the refurbishment contract to Sasolburg-basedACTOMTurbo Machines late last year, it stipulatedaperiod of three months for completion of the proj- ect so that the compressor could resume operation as quickly as possible.

When the Vanderbijlpark plant of Air Products South Africa, leading producers

At the same time the refurbishment of the 2 500 kW, 11 kV two-pole ac induction motor that drives the compressor was as- signed to Marthinusen & Coutts, ACTOM Turbo Machines’ sister business unit in Johannesburg. The compressor is used for the direct supplyof nitrogenvia apipeline to twoof Air ProductsVanderbijlpark’slargestcustomers in the Vaal Triangle. “Three months is an extremely tight timeframe as it is about a third of the time that would normally be allocated for such a complex task, especially considering thatwe had tomanufacture the replacement impel- lers and pinions by a reverse-engineering process, which was necessitated by the short turnaround time set,” says Chris

One of two locally reverse-engineered and 5-axis machined impellers.

18 ¦ MechChem Africa • April 2018