Modularisation – The Way Forward…SMART Solution by Thermax Bacbcock & Wilcox Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. India (TBWES)

Creating a Culture of Innovation

Keeping pace with the ever-evolving market demands and leveraging technology for enhancing customer experience, Thermax’s modularisation is the way forward. Modularisation aims to reduce the number of interfaces, the total installation cost & overall time schedule of the project while optimising the ROI & allowing standardisation for future projects. Modularisation focuses on package level rather than individual equipment.

Thermax got an opportunity to supply an entire steam package for a large refinery in Africa.

Considering the advantages of time and cost, limited skilled manpower at the site and optimising operational cost, the concept of modularisation got emerged and was finalised.

Special features

– Plug ‘n’ play modules – ready to install
– Increased safety – improved quality
– Shortened timelines – wastage reduction – Cost-effective
– Customer satisfaction

Details of modular packages

The entire idea of modularisation was converted into size and weights in order to check on manufacturability, in-land transportability, mode of movement into the vessel, unloading from the vessel, movement from port to site and finally, installation of the same without us- ing the crane. A core team was designated as the task force for this execution.

The boilers and heater were designed to meet ASME Section – I and API 560. A significant amount of engineering work was carried out by using software like Tekla, CFD, FEA, HTRI, 3D Model and animation. Various structural, simulation analysis considering inland transportation & rolling pitching of vessels for sea freight resulted in producing more than 4500 documents, taking approvals from PMC and end-user in line with the documents approval procedure. Considering the huge work quantum and to ensure round the clock working at our manufacturing and installation facilities, the latest NDT techniques such as TOFD/ PAUT/Online RT/close Proximity radiography (CPR) were successfully deployed with qualification procedures prior to implementation.

In order to assemble 26 colossus modules, to be loaded into the ship within a span of 5 months, multiple units as per the customer’s optimized vessel scheme and schedule, we had to divide them into two assembly yards depending on the constraints/requirements of civil platforms and height and weight restrictions. The total of 1400 manpower of different skills supervised by 145 qualified engineers for a period of 14 months right from the assembly to loading onto the vessels was a complicated and formidable task.

The ‘Right first-time’ approach resulted in the least number of punch list points, no inter- face mismatches which helped in achieving hassle-free installation at the site. The whole job is executed under very strict and vigilant safety practices which have created a benchmark for the highest safe construction man-hours.

Thermax ensured flawless tagging, packing and shipment management system, due to which identification; traceability and tracking of loose components were done in a highly efficient manner and resulted in the easy allocation of material to the assembly contractors.

Considering the long duration from shipment to commissioning, in order to prevent the pressure parts from pitting/corrosion, utmost care was taken by way of filling nitrogen in- side the pressure parts and using extensively silica gel bags inside the pressure parts and furnace.

Logistics was identified as the most important area of concern considering the huge sizes and weights mentioned above. Right from concept, the modules were designed for Roll on Roll off (RO-RO) shipment wherein the design was carried out for wind, rolling-pitching loads. The second biggest task was to move the modules from the ground to floating vessels in the sea. A special multimodal transport like Self Propelled Modular Trailer (SPMT) with multiple sets was used for the module movement from the assembly yard to the port jetty and to the vessel. Thermax took the responsibility of sea fastening, such as soft & hard lashing of modules on the deck of the vessel in order to secure them from strong winds & harsh weather conditions.

All these efforts were converted into a success story when the entire 400,000 cubic meter material was unloaded and installed at the site without any damage within the shortest pe- riod. We take pride in sharing that PMC congratulated Thermax for installing 5 units of HRSG modules in just 21 hours. We also got the credit of becoming the first to carry out a successful pressure test at the site and the others followed the procedure and practice set by Thermax.

The integration of 4 units of UB & 8 units of HRSG package was done to deliver the same temperature and pressure steam delivered to a common header and further distributed to the turbine, process steam and hot water applications.

The customer and end-user shared his rich experience of working with Thermax as an as- sociate partner for their various project executed across African countries.

Modular construction helped in reducing this project cycle up to 30% to 40% more than the traditional stick-built construction method. This project employs modularisation to reduce waste and increase product durability by creating completely customisable and flexible units.

One of the philosophies of our company is ‘Our Challenge is to continually define new markets by expanding the frontiers of research, engineering and customer application in our chosen field of business’. By doing this we seek dependable partnership with our sup- pliers to generate a strong mutual interest in each other’s welfare.

In today’s highly demanding industrial market, modularisation can enhance project devel- opment, execution and construction. A modular approach is no more expensive compared to alternative conventional methods while being much faster and easier to install with less likelihood of on-site failures. With the space savings and many other potential gains from that, the modular approach has quickly demonstrated its real value to the world.

with the increasing complexities involved in setting up greenfield process plants, our modularisation solution can help customers de-risk their construction work and accelerate completion times”
-Pravin Karve, CEO TBWES

Please refer to the below links for Videos shared on Youtube by Thermax giving a glance at Thermax’s capabilities in execution & supply of largest Plug & Play type boiler & heater assemblies.

Sonal Agarwal, Product Manager (Modularisation), TBWES, A Thermax Group Company

https://youtu.be/tvJvBiLxOcc

https://youtu.be/JB3gBnbE-LU

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