A REFRACTORY INSTALLATION CONTRACTOR S DREAM. N Patel AnMarBRS

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1 A REFRACTORY INSTALLATION CONTRACTOR S DREAM N Patel AnMarBRS The Dream The weather on the day of such a dream for a refractory installation contractor is completely irrelevant to the elated feelings associated with the simple thought of having its actions play out into reality. Thundershowers or hailstorms aside, the first day for the installation contractor starts shortly after it does for the design company; the day the contract for design is awarded. The installation contract is awarded to the lucky bidder a week or two after the design company is on board, once an idea of the project scope has been drafted. From here all parties begin to work closely through every stage of the project and the dream begins There is a little bit of something for everyone: practicality for designers, reasonable and practical tolerancing for the suppliers, testing requirements such as expansion paper burn-out temperatures or the implications of various hydration susceptibility tests for magnesia based bricks for researchers, and of course the elimination of all refractory concerns for clients. The installation contractor gives input to the design and supply requirements, completes the actual installation, and follows up after the project completion in the form of regular maintenance and forward planning and scheduling. The contractor takes complete control of the client s refractory stores, has full access to the existing inventory and in addition, is in charge of the project schedule deliveries of not only the refractories, but of adjacent items such as steel shell plates, hold-down boxes, inspection doors and the various coolers, if required, to name a few for all projects big and small. Many months are spent planning, resourcing, and scheduling and all supply is inspected by the installation contractor to ensure that it not only meets the issued supply specifications, but also to take note of any shortcomings or allowances that have to be made onsite during the actual installation. Decision registers are compiled to answer all the repeat questions that are asked from one job to the next; questions that lead to installation delays and in some cases loss of production time after time. What minimum gap constitutes a straight joint? What is the minimum allowed cut size? Are dog-leg cuts allowed? Are bricks allowed to be cut wet onsite if they are dried out properly before installation? What is used to fill any gaps that form between the refractory and the shell if the shell is not to specification keeping in mind that a day spent fixing the shell is worth several days of savings during refractory installation? And the register grows. All parties have input with the design company having the best technical solution, the contractor the most practical tie in to the technical solutions and the client the final say with all the facts and people, both technical and practical, close at hand. The contractor offers all possible solutions with Page 49

2 the pros and cons of each along with a break down of the time, the cost, and most importantly the practicality of each. The installation runs like clockwork. All workers and equipment are mobilized to site before power is turned off and all items are delivered on time and in installation sequence at the hand of the installation contractor; all decisions that would normally hold up the project are already decided on and the project comes in ahead of or on time. The dream does not stop here. It continues with the contractor having full knowledge of any design changes that were made, what stock is remaining, and what is required to upkeep the vessel on a continuous basis. With such knowledge, the contractor continues to record keep and starts planning for the next rebuild. The contractor looks at what delays were seen during the rebuild just completed and how to plan them out of the schedule therefore revising it and, if possible, moving it forward by always pushing the limits to help increase the client s production through reduced downtimes. The implementation of stringent quality control measures and documentation by the contractor in conjunction with all parties sets the client at ease. The entire project is documented and the client has full records of the rebuild from design notes to final project reports with fully signed quality assurance/control plans in hand for future reference. The documentation includes everything from supply inspection sheets to notes on remakes, alterations and modifications as required, from installation notes to lessons learned during the rebuild and recommendations for future. All inventory used with sign-out procedures for existing stocks are implemented and the risks of storing emergency linings along with associated manufacturing lead times are discussed on a continuous basis. The client has all the necessary information at his finger tips as a starting point for the next rebuild years down the road. Full documentation of all completed maintenance and quality and safety measures are submitted at the completion of every project, big or small. The best part of the refractory installation contractor s dream is that it does not stray too far from the client s dream; a dream that weighs heavily towards all refractory projects coming in on or ahead of schedule and where all the client s refractory needs and concerns are eliminated and with it, the dream ends. The Reality Annually, the mining industry spends billions of rand maintaining and rebuilding various areas of their metallurgical plants. Refractories play an important role during these times as thousands of tonnes of refractory material can be replaced during a single rebuild. Downtime costs escalate for every day the lined equipment is offline and the entire project very quickly becomes schedule/critical path based, which in turn correlates directly to cost. It is not so much the cost of the rebuild itself as it is the cost of loss of production that has the biggest impact. Specifically, in the platinum industry this equates to millions of rand every single day the plant is offline. Proper planning, resourcing, and schedule sequencing can help reduce downtimes and in many instances can even bring schedules forward. Despite the importance of proper design and Page 50

3 planning, the refractory installation contractor is usually the last one involved in a project even though they possess the most practical refractory knowledge. Over the years various refractory installation companies, such as AnMarBRS, have manned themselves with personnel to be able to be more than just an average installation contractor that mobilizes to site, completes the work at hand and leaves site. Today, installation contractors can often offer valuable input throughout all stages, from design to project completion and ongoing maintenance, of any project, big or small. However reality remains reality, and in essence the reality is that the people with the most practical knowledge are the last ones involved in the project. On an average project the installation contract is awarded about two months prior to the project start. This is minimal in comparison to the scheduling, planning and resourcing that is required for many of the jobs and also in comparison to the months or years that the design company is involved. In some instances the contractor comes on board as little as two to three weeks in advance of starting big projects that involve the installation of thousands of tonnes of refractories. This minimal lead time is spent mobilizing a work force and equipment, obtaining scope of supply materials, and simply getting organized onsite. Little to no time is available for scheduling and planning refinement outside of what was allotted at the tender submission. Little is known of design changes since the original bid and in some cases even less is known of the scope of the project and how it has changed since the original bid was received. The following lists a few actualities and their resulting realities: 1. Drawings are made with perfect jointing, perfect brick sizing and hence minimal spares. Actuality is, in many cases, the drawing takes no cognisance of the expansion paper and all brick specifications have tolerances which can seriously affect the spares requirements. If two extra keys are required to turn a hearth correctly onsite the spares have vanished. 2. Deliveries are to be packet perfect with no damage to the refractories. However, in practice, if a pallet of skewback bricks falls over because the pallet or packaging is suspect or there is a water spill which renders a pallet unusable, the spares have vanished. 3. Having one brick left after an installation may seem perfect. It means the project was two bricks away from disaster as a replacement could take four to six weeks to arrive onsite. 4. Just in time deliveries of material stop the need for excessive onsite storage facilities. In reality, if the truck breaks down the project is left standing for hours waiting for the delivery to arrive. 5. Ideally, design changes arrive in ample time to be accommodated into the plan and the required brick design changes have been done. Often in reality the design changes arrive during installation and modification to bricks are done onsite by cutting and grinding bricks leading to installation delays. Making Dreams Reality Installation contractors can offer valuable input at the design stage through specification and drawing reviews. Material selection suggestions can be offered for various Page 51

4 applications, processes, and areas of the plant. Practical tolerancing of refractory materials can be offered to ensure both practicality from the supplier s point of view and minimal extra work onsite through additional cutting and grinding requirements. The practicality can also be tied into matching refractory tolerances with adjacent equipment tolerances such as coolers as an example. Spare materials counts can be revised based on general work practices and installation specifics to ensure there is enough spare material on items such as bricks that are designed to be cut onsite. Input on brick shapes and sizes can be offered through the knowledge of minimum cuts that can be made based on such factors as blade thicknesses and brick hardness as an example. Reviewing the drawings in advance of final issue from the design company not only helps with planning and scheduling, but also with ensuring the design is practical from an installation point of view. It is even as simple as having the contractor act as a practical set of eyes to ensure the specification guidelines are consistent with the drawings. As it often exists now, the specification coupled with the drawings often tells what is not allowed but offers very little on what is allowed if the situation arises, which nine times out of ten it does. The installation contractor can help offer practical solutions. Having the installation contractor conduct supply inspections, based on the practical tolerancing that was set out during the design stage, allows the contractor to have a full story of every refractory material in the furnace along with its shortcomings. Reporting of the inspection with the inclusion of inspection sheets and installation notes allows the contractor to plan the installation more accurately in advance of the rebuild and can help give both the designer and the client more informed recommendations prior to and during the rebuild. Time and cost savings form the client s side can be seen through various allowances that are made by the installation contractor during the inspection. For example, if the sidewall bricks in a six-in-line furnace are oversized and only three courses out of twenty contain coolers, it is only necessary to grind or cut three courses of bricks to match the cooler thickness. This decision can be made by the installation contractor during the inspection prior to the release for shipment, with constant communication and documentation to both the designer and the client. In turn, this will save the client additional cutting or grinding time and costs compared with having to rework the entire sidewall order or having to modify three courses of bricks during the installation. With knowledge of the entire refractory supply, the installation contractor is better armed to complete the installation with fewer surprises and as a direct result, fewer delays. Compiling a decision register prior to the rebuild can also help save time during installation and help minimize delays. Rebuild after rebuild the same decisions that need to be made arise and the project comes to an abrupt standstill mid installation. Time is lost waiting for all the relevant parties to gather, the problem to be reviewed and a solution to be determined so work can recommence. Many times, these decisions are made with little practical knowledge leading to even further delays in having the contractor trying to implement a non-practical solution. In completing a register in advance, a technical solution can be reached that is practical to install, if required, at the time of the rebuild. The implications of each decision can be discussed and further research into the possible solutions can be undertaken to allow for an informed and educated outcome. Although not every contingency can be foreseen, all parties will Page 52

5 have already agreed to solutions to various problems that continuously arise. In addition, all installation supervisors and workers will be aware of what to do in advance and fewer installation stoppages and slow-downs will be experienced. If decisions are required to be made onsite, they can be done expediently following a similar process to that which was used to compile the original register. The new decisions can be added to the existing decision register, which in turn can act as a starting point for the next rebuild. The logistical planning and sequencing is the most important part of a successful rebuild. With the entire project knowledge from scope of demolition to scope of installation and with a decision register in hand, the contractor is armed to mark out a schedule with great accuracy. Different schedules can also be compiled based on items such as furnace drainage, safety allowances such as supporting a roof or entryway, etc. to help the client better plan the rebuild, partial or full, in the shortest possible time. Extensive knowledge of demolition times and requirements if adjacent refractories and steel work must be preserved can all be pre-planned with great accuracy by the installation contractor before final schedule submission prior to the start of work. The actual installation is the contractor s forte and similar to demolition, with full knowledge of the design, supply, and scope of work can do what he is best at doing: installing the refractory lining. All the planning and scheduling has been done, the design requirements and supply details are known, delivery schedules and sequences have been planned, inventories are monitored and recorded as the work proceeds, and the decision register is in-hand. The contractor can be armed with all the tools needed for an installation that can be completed with the highest of quality, in the shortest of time, with the most cost savings all the while documenting the entire process. Quality assurance and control plans can be formulated pre-installation to help ensure the highest standard of refractory practice is used. Each step of the installation can be signed off by all parties to ensure the work has been accepted and to help minimize rework through a well documented plan. Any shortcomings can be outlined in a final project lessons learned and recommendations section of the close-out report to help plan for future rebuilds and push project schedules even further. At the end of the rebuild the client will have a fully documented rebuild from design to implementation with full documentation of the work conducted during every shift. In addition, refractory inventories can be submitted and spare orders can be made. The installation contractor can give input to spare refractory requirements for continued maintenance and the advantages and risks associated with storing various items long term. Refractory lead times and costs associated with each can be compiled by the installation contractor through direct contact with the supplier and relayed to the client. Having the installation contractor remain onsite for maintenance can lead to even greater time savings in the event of an emergency situation. The contractor will have the knowledge of the design, the design intent, installation notes taken and most importantly, exactly how the refractory lining was installed. Page 53

6 Smaller projects and emergency instances have different requirements and time does not always permit proper planning. The installation contractor runs around and scrambles to get as many resources and as much equipment on site as possible. Although this can be done in as little as a few hours, depending on external factors such as medicals and inductions, the costs associated with the work from the client s side is likely more than he has planned for. Last minute decisions, lack of materials onsite, and unforeseen circumstances all lead to additional downtime that can be prevented even in an emergency situation. Having a designated installation contractor onsite who is not only doing regular maintenance, but who is aware of the location and quantities of refractory materials and already has site establishment can lead to greater time savings in loss production. The costs associated with the loss of production far outweigh the costs of having a knowledgeable contractor onsite already doing regular maintenance work. Although the project gets completed regardless of the circumstances one can imagine what can be accomplished if the installation contractor is already in control of the refractory materials and is already in continuous contact with the designated material suppliers and, most importantly, has a full history of the lined equipment. Conclusion Although not every contingency onsite can be planned for in advance, many of them can be not only planned for, but can be engineered or planned out by having all parties working together on the project from the first day the design contract is awarded. Over the years, refractory installation companies such as AnMarBRS have obtained the personnel to see projects through from conception through to long term maintenance and to help eliminate the client s refractory concerns. In essence, they have manned themselves with the ability to live the refractory installation contractor s dream. Acknowledgement: Mr. R. King of AnMarBRS The Author Neha Patel, Sr. Engineer Refractories, AnMarBRS Research Engineer Teck Cominco Mississauga, Canada Intermediate Engineer, Refractories Hatch Canada Mississauga, Canada Senior Engineer, Refractories Hatch Africa Johannesburg, South Africa. Current Senior Engineer, Refractories AnMarBRS Krugersdorp, South Africa Page 54