https://www.miningweekly.com

Company facilitates efficient furnace shutdown projects

29th May 2020

By: Halima Frost

Senior Writer

     

Font size: - +

Demolition solutions provider Jet Demolition offers specialised demolition services and machines that are easily adapted to the challenging conditions of furnace-related shutdown projects.

“Furnaces have a finite lifetime before requiring significant maintenance and repair work,” says Jet Demolition contracts manager Kate Bester.

She explains that less serious shutdowns often require only the removal of the burden and solidified product from within the furnace to allow for localised repairs.

Extensive repairs may call for the demolition and removal of the refractory lining, sections of the shell plate or even entire furnace structures to facilitate modernised installations.

Jet Demolition owns a variety of specialised equipment specifically modified to use within the confined space of a furnace structure, says Bester.

Typically, mini excavators and robotic breakers have been used to do this type of demolition, but the company has modified larger machines to fit and manoeuvre within these confined spaces.

“This option has led to increased productivity and operator safety,” she adds.

Jet Demolition has also recently lifted modified mini excavators onto engineered scaffolding, thereby enabling the company to demolish refractory linings at height.

The company uses specialised lances and tubes, rendering a better burn rate through solidified material. It has also applied metallurgical research into developing unique wire packs specifically suited to extracting base metals within a furnace that is to be demolished.

These specialised machines enable Jet Demolition to improve on project schedules, resulting in decreased downtime for clients.

Furnace shutdowns are generally planned for the cold winter months on a 24-hour schedule to minimise production downtime.

Bester says fatigue management and contractor integration are the major challenges associated with work of this nature.

Furnace shutdowns typically require extended working hours and night shifts. It is, therefore, critical to ensure that teams are well rested, disciplined, experienced and well looked after throughout the project.

In addition, furnace demolition activities are more often than not conducted in extreme conditions, which can range from working in wet environments during quenching and cooling to working in scalding environments with restricted visibility during lancing activities.

Almost every element of a furnace structure is large, heavy and can potentially cause harm – it is, therefore, imperative that there is no slip in attention at any phase of the shutdown.

Bester concludes that the team’s strength, commitment and discipline are the determining factors in facilitating a highly successful project – one that is completed on time and without incident.

Edited by Nadine James
Features Deputy Editor

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION