2006 Stainless Steel Awards


Merit Awards - Projects 

 

Styria Engineering

Project : Fabrication of two electrolyte dual-media high pressure filter vessels

Styria Engineering has won a Merit Award in the Project category for the fabrication of two electrolyte dual-media high-pressure filter vessels for Kansanshi Mining, Zambia.

Fabricated from 316L stainless steel, with 8 mm plate for the shell material and 12 mm plate for the identical top and bottom dished ends, the vessels called for the highest degree of accuracy at all stages, commencing with the layout of the dished-end blanks, says Gary Crawford of Styria Engineering.

Due to the greatly extended knuckling or curving of the dished ends, and the extremely high forces brought into play in shaping the stainless steel, nothing less than the highest-integrity welded joints sufficed, or weld failures would definitely have occurred during end forming,” says Crawford.

The close proximity of the two vessels, and the inordinate quantity and complexity of the pipework, required much higher levels of accuracy in nozzle and mounting-bracket positioning. Since the two vessels were mounted as a mirror-image configuration, any small inaccuracy would show up as an elemental mistake on the finished product, where it was stipulated that horizontals and verticals were not to deviate by even a single degree.

When completed, the two vessels were mounted into a specially designed structure incorporating a base skid, a frame for valves, piping and electronics, and an upper access deck. The entire structure, ready for shipment, measured a massive 13 m long by 8 m wide, and took two weeks by road to reach Zambia.

"Although not visually spectacular, the nature of these vessels called forth the best in Styria’s craftsmen, from boilermakers to welders. The result embodied excellence, the highest quality, innovation and creativity,” says Crawford.

Gary Crawford

Tel (011) 456 5306

Fax (011) 452 2450