MechChem Africa July-August 2024

⎪ Cover story ⎪

South African market, these are much cleaner and environmentally friendly, helping to re duce emissions and promote a greener future. The unit is packaged to meet the needs of the rental industry. Built into the container is the boiler unit, a feedwater tank, along with all the filtration and water treatment systems needed. A simple easy to assemble chimney stack slides into the back of the unit during transport. Inside the doors you will find the control panel and Scada system with all the embedded connectivity and data collection features of a modern IIoT-ready plant. “Rental boilers in South Africa are synony mous with older technology, coal fired boilers with multiple parts coupling to the plant. Our Rand Air 8 t steam boiler is an elegantly de signed package. Everything needed to deliver steam to a plant fits neatly into the container, and with a mass of just 28.7 t, it can be loaded onto the back of a road trailer for transporta tion to site,” he asserts. Plug and Steam Connecting a boiler is not as simple as install ing a compressor, he warns. “At Rand Air, we treat every installation with an engineering project mindset. We come to site to inspect and assess the customer’s needs, where the water is coming from and at what quality, how the steam needs to be connected into the system and where we will be placing the boiler unit,” continues Haddad. He points out that every boiler is a pres sure vessel that is subject to the Pressure Equipment Regulation (PER) of the South African Department of Labour’s Occupa tional Health and Safety Act. Specific safety features are required, and an independent authorised person (AIA) needs to inspect and formally sign off on the operational safety of the installation before it can be used. “We are working with local partners to see how we can streamline that process to get instal lation and commissioning done as quickly as possible,” he says. “As we see more and more customer, we are developing smarter processes, fittings and adapters to make the process of connecting up a boiler as simple and seamless as possible,” Haddad adds. Rand Air is calling this approach ‘Plug and Steam’. It involves “working smarter in our goal of getting the customer’s plant up and running in the shortest period”. With its partners, Rand Air can offer three rental options: • Short term rental, typically for plant breakdowns and the mandatory yearly and three yearly AIA inspections. Longer term rentals, typically for new boiler installations and major plant expansions. Outsourced steam plants. With this offering, the customer is hands-off and • •

Rand Air’s 8 t steam boiler is an elegantly designed package with everything needed to deliver steam to a plant fitting neatly into a container. With a mass 28.7 t the whole system can be loaded onto the back of a road trailer for transportation to site.

Rand Air is developing smarter processes, fittings and adapters to make the complex process of connecting up a boiler as simple and seamless as possible. The company is calling this approach ‘Plug and Steam’.

which is also available for steam boiler users, is outcomes based pricing. The steam user is not involved in any of the boiler operation or management activities. “The boiler is fenced off and our operators run it. The customer only pays based on metered steam usage, just as you would pay for electricity and water from a utility,” Haddad explains. “This is an appealing option for customers trying to move away from coal without the headache of having to invest in a new plant and boiler operators. We are already engaging with customers who are interested in this op tion, but for now, it is a future vision,” he says. “The future is likely to be a uncertain for the next few years. This is why rental is a great solution for South Africa. Rand Air can provide customers with the Temperature equipment they need, for steam and cooling, without them having to commit capital outlay. They can rent the equipment on a month-to month basis while Rand Air takes care of any maintenance requirements. “With uptime guaranteed, our customers get the full benefit of high quality products that are energy efficient and clean. In addi tion, when a better one comes along, there is no need to ‘sweat the asset’ of older technol ogy. We will happily bring the latest model to replace any of our older units,” Edmund Haddad concludes. www.randair.co.za

only pays for what is used. On these projects Rand Air supplies the steam hardware and partners with local sup pliers to run the operations. “On all these options we offer boiler supervi sion and water treatment services; along with training and support for existing personnel to ensure efficient running of the packaged boiler plant,” Haddad assures. By law, steam boilers need to be inspected by an authorised inspection authority once a year, with a major inspection once every three years. During these inspections, any wear to the boiler will be detected and repaired, resulting in downtime of between one week and a whole month. Plants typically schedule these shuts during the Christmas break, while demand is low, to minimise production losses. This approach results in businesses com peting for boiler inspection and repair re sources over the December period. “Renting a standby boiler to maintain steam production during a shutdown frees up the maintenance calendar and ensures adequate time for work to be done properly,” Haddad explains. Outcomes based pricing: ‘Steam over the fence’ Another innovative offering from Rand Air, Scheduled boiler inspection at any time of the year

July-August 2024 • MechChem Africa ¦ 5