MechChem Africa November-December 2023

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

KSB has the option to fully manufacture API 610 pumps in South Africa and the company has casting patterns for the majority of the range, which includes the casings, covers, impellers and bearing brackets.

ture these API 610 pumps locally,” he adds. Companies such as Sasol have stringent requirements with respect to procurement and the technical specifications of their products. “KSB meets all these requirements and is, therefore, the preferred supplier to a number of EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) companies in South Africa, including Wood and MegChem. Supply con tracts will generally come via one of these companies. “Local manufacturing also gives us an additional advantage in power generation for high-pressure, high-temperature ap plications. For concentrated solar pow er, for example, we supplied our API 610 pumps for pumping heat transfer oil at the 100 MW Ilanga 1 solar thermal power station near Upington in the Northern Cape, which operates at a very high design temperature. The EPC on this project was from Spain, so our local manufacturing capacity was a key factor in securing the business,” Testi tells MechChem Africa. “Although KSB in Germany has started supplying its own mechanical seals, mostly for water, chemicals and slurry applications, we source the mechanical seals we use for our API 610 pumps from global specialists such as John Crane, AESSEAL and EagleBurgmann, all of whom are suppliers accredited by Sasol and other petrochemical companies,” he says. Also, OH2 pumps are a centreline mounted design, allowing expansion on either side of the casing centre-line to minimise the impact of high temperature – operating temperatures can be up to 450 °C. They are also extremely high-pressure, up to 200 bar. “We supply API 610 pumps to the latest

edition (12 th ) released in January 2021, with our parent company in Germany guiding us with variances that need to be implemented. Mechanical seal companies and pump com panies, including KSB, are represented on the API committee, so they know what the latest revisions are going to be long before they are published. It is all safety driven, though, across the size and capacity range. “The smallest pump we offer has a 25 mm (1-inch) discharge diameter and the biggest we produce in South Africa has a 250 mm (10-inch) discharge.” While KSB pumps are built to the best global standards, what is most significant, according to Stefano Testi, is that KSB Pumps and Valves has support fom the Contracts Division for the execution, delivery and logistics of all project orders. “As soon as we receive an order, it is handed over to our contracts department for processing: submitting all the draw ings and documents required for approval, ensuring that they have the QCPs (quality control plans) approved where applicable, all manufacturing, organising purchases from sub-suppliers, including castings from found ries or possibly imported from KSB Group Companies, etc. “We have 10 additional offices around the country, including one in Secunda and one in Vanderbijlpark to assist Sasol 1, 2 and 3. We also have a very competent SupremeServ Division for services and aftermarket. So, our offering to the petrochemical industry goes well beyond the manufacture and supply of API 610 pumps. We offer project execution Contacts and logistics: the differentiator

and service deployment at a level I do not be lieve other pump companies can,” he suggests. “In addition, our engineering, sales teams and our customers receive support from our service department. We have opened up an accredited service centre at our Secunda of fice, for example, dedicated to the service and repair of the API 610 pump fleet on Sasol’s Secunda site. “We have also established an SES (sys tem efficiency services) team that goes to customer sites to evaluate pump efficiency: for example, to see if the energy efficiency can be improved, and to evaluate the overall performance. When we repair or refurbish a pump, we strive to put it back into service as near to its ‘as-new’ condition as possible. In addition, should the client need it, we can put the refurbished pump through our test ing bay to verify its true efficiency and pump performance,” he informs MechChem Africa . Casper Steenkamp, Secunda branch man ager adds: “Compared to other pump brands, and because of our existing footprint, we have a significant contract with Sasol for the supply of spares for servicing its process pumps.” “With offices close to our key customers, we offer a holistic service for our API 610 Pumps, from cradle to grave: starting with engineering expertise, sales professionalism, contracts and logistics for the delivery of new pump projects and followed by a total pump life service offering to help clients achieve the best possible value from their investments,” he says. “If our aftermarket service were not exceptional, we would never have become a preferred supplier,” Testi concludes. www.ksb.com/en-za

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