ABB – Ammonium Nitrate Plant Project
Ryan Wilks involvement in The Ammonium Nitrate Plant project consisted of the positioning of free issued switchgear, wiring and point to point testing of low voltage and medium voltage switchgear into 3 large transportable power houses. All three buildings where 30m long 5m wide and able to be transported to site via a specialized truck and trailer assembly upon completion of the project.
PROJECT HIGHTLIGHTS
The first 2 buildings were the substation buildings. The first of the 2 consisted of medium voltage switchgear, which included an 11kv and 3.3kv Main switchboard with externally vented arc duct systems, one of which was 14m long and compiled of 20 shipping sections, large medium voltage water cooled Variable speed drives and medium voltage soft starters were also installed within this building.
The second building was the low voltage supplies and housed the large mechanical switchboards and VSD’s for control of motors within the Ammonium plant. There is also Power factor correction units to supplement the highly inductive loads within the plant.
The third building, like the second, concentrated mainly on mechanical services. This building housed what could be described as a wall of VSD’s. With so much emphasis on motor control, Harmonic filters and UPS’s keep the building performing at 100% capacity and efficiency.
All three buildings were designed to be extremely reliable and mechanically sound with fire rating and structural stability being achieved through cyclone kits and fire rating materials due to the remote location of the plant, with every building housing uninterrupted power supply systems for all the controls and emergency lighting. All Variable speed drives were controlled and monitored through a profibus system.
The project was a welcomed challenge for Ryan Wilks, as it proved to be very interesting and quite an enjoyable project, with meticulous attention to detail, this style of project is where Ryan Wilks excels. With over 90 pieces of electrical apparatus not including shipping sections and around 300 sub mains and sub circuits it was a sizable challenge but thanks to some precision, expert timing and know how was completed to the up most professional standard.