Kalgoorlie Nickel West Air Compressor Replacement

Project Highlights:

• More than 30% savings in engineering and capital costs of compressors
• Savings of over $1.6 million per year in operating costs (power, water and maintenance) compared to original plant setup
• Technical and Commercial review of Air Compressor Replacement proposed for BHP’s Kalgoorlie
• Nickel Smelter and option evaluation and pricing of several compressor packages
• Eliminated the use water cooled compressors, resulting in OPEX savings on cooling towers and circulating pumps
• Design and manufacture of 7 Ingersoll Rand skid mounted modular screw compressor packages
• Detailed Engineering for BHP Nickel West Compressor House
• Supervision and execution of package fabrication at Ingersoll Rand, China facility
• Manufacturing documentation (MDR’s) in compliance with BHP Billiton Standards

Project Description:

BHP Nickel West has opted to replace its 40-year-old Atlas Copco make reciprocating air compressors which supply low pressure air for the plants air system and high-pressure air for its soot blowing system, with limited capital outlay. Access Petrotec carried out a selection phase study with the following constraints:

• Increased air demand
• Limited CAPEX budget
• Space constraints in compressor shed
• Aging 440V electrical infrastructure
• Reduction in the number of operating compressors to make use of existing 3.3kV cables and MCC’s
• Limitation of low-cost packaging options available

The selection phase study revealed that the total compressed air demand can be met with 5 off Low Pressure Plant Air and 2 off Soot Blowing Air compressors driven by 3.3kV motors. BHP Billiton however, retained 1 off existing plant air compressors and 2 off existing Soot blowing compressors as a back-up. The selected compressors were too big to be manufactured in any Asian facility. In order to meet the cost challenges of the project, it was decided to package these compressors outside Australia or any western country. Access Petrotec arranged to procure bare shaft compressors from Ingersoll Rand, USA and designed the package to fit in the confines of the existing compressor housing, which was assembled at IR China under the strict supervision of Access Petrotec and in compliance with Australian standards, especially AS1210.

All compressors have been delivered to BHP Nickel West in Kalgoorlie in June 2015 and are being commissioned progressively.

Project Deliverables:

• Selection Phase engineering and feasibility study
• Developed Mechanical and Structural Design of compressor installation
• Prepared Equipment layout, Hot Air duct drawings and piping isometrics
• Detailed engineering of Compressor package
• Inspection and testing of the compressor packages
• Documentation

Prepared Manufacturing Data Records (MDR) for 7 off compressor packages in compliance with AS1210 and AS3990 for registration with WorkSafe Australia and the Department of Mines & Petroleum (DMP)