Focus on Coal
to be carried out. At this stage an industrial Decision Support System (iDSS), such as SKF’s @ptitude system can provide valuable support to senior maintenance engineers, by making relevant condition based maintenance recommendations available online, as well as providing access to a wealth of specific and expert knowledge on asset maintenance. Work requests are then submitted to a Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), to be combined with other predetermined planned and corrective maintenance activities. Te third stage, work control, relies heavily on the priorities and structure determined during stages one and two, allowing maintenance activity to be planned in detail and scheduled with tasks prioritised, taking into account timescales, man hours required, data feedback, and competence requirements. Effective planning at this stage, combined with good spares management, well defined job plans and trained staff, allows resources to be utilised in the most efficient and productive way. With these three components fully completed, the final stage, work execution, can be implemented, with detailed plans put into action and maintenance work carried out. It is crucial that feedback is collected via post maintenance testing in order for continuous improvement to be maintained and maximum return on investment to be achieved. Another innovative approach is the Integrated
Equipment Reliability (IER) programme from SKF, which has been specifically tailored to meet the needs of coal fired power plants. Similar to AEO, this programme provides a flexible framework that allows maintenance to be planned and carried out
more efficiently in order to cut costs and increase the availability and safety of equipment. Based on a best practice predictive maintenance strategy, IER complements and accommodates a plant’s pre-existing programmes and systems, and can incorporate operator drive reliability processes and technology for the early detection and correction of machine problems. Te IER programme has been designed to make it easy to define the maintenance tasks that need to be carried out on which machines and when using minimal plant resources. Tis approach also allows management to analyse personnel safety hazards inline with the latest health and safety regulations, as well as highlighting environmental risks, ensuring the plant operates safely, legally and responsibly. At the foundation of this strategy is a range
of software programmes, such as SKF’s @ptitude Decision Support System, which enables managers and maintenance engineers to input vital information including tasks, frequencies and job plans into the plant’s central systems. Tis software can also produce bills of materials, spares lists and other useful data that is needed to ensure optimum efficiency in work planning and scheduling. Trough the use of this latest generation of integrated, holistic approaches to coal fired power plant maintenance, companies can not only eliminate many of the problems associated with unexpected downtime and high maintenance levels but also realise an increase in mean time between failures (MTBF) and a significantly lower cost of ownership. Perhaps most importantly, an effective strategy will enable these companies to minimise costs and achieve consistently high levels of productivity and profitability. l
Phil Burge, Communication Manager, SKF (UK) Limited.
www.skf.co.uk S
Power generation and synthetic fuels boost the South African coal mining industry
outh Africa’s coal production has been stagnant at approximately 240 million tonnes per annum for the greater part
of the decade. This is due to depleted mines, declining coal recovery grades and rising operating costs. “Coal production is likely to increase
marginally during 2010, as no major projects will be transitioning to full production during this period,” says Frost & Sullivan metals & mining analyst Wonder Nyanjowa. “The electricity crisis in South Africa highlighted the need for not only expanding power generation capacity, but also ensuring adequate supplies of coal to power generating plants. “Coal production must grow to cope with
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the anticipated increase in demand for coal from the power generation and synthetic fuels manufacturing industries.” New analysis from Frost & Sullivan,
Production and Investment Forecasts of the South African Coal Mining Industry, finds that South Africa’s coal production is likely to increase to 300 million tonnes by 2015, as coal mining companies expand production to meet the anticipated increase in demand for coal from Eskom and Sasol. “The construction of two new power
stations by Eskom, the de-mothballing of three others, and the construction of an extra synthetic fuel manufacturing plant will result in the domestic demand for coal stepping-up by an additional 75 million tonnes in the next
five to 10 years,” notes Nyanjowa. “Fresh coal mines need to be developed
and existing ones expanded to cope with the surge in demand for coal. All tier-one coal mining companies have announced expansion projects,” adds Nyanjowa. The Waterberg coal basin, which
currently has one coal mine, is poised to become the mainstay of coal mining and power generation activities in the long term. Exxaro is expanding its Grootegeluk mine to cater to the demand for coal from Medupi power station, while Sasol has completed feasibility studies for its Mafutha project in the Waterberg coal basin. l
For more information, visit
www.frost.com
“At one time, it was common practice to wait for equipment to fail before repairs were carried out. However, decision makers within the coal fired power sector quickly came to realise that in order to guarantee continuous production and prevent any disruption to supply, an alternative, more efficient approach was needed.”
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