September 19, 2024
Edmund Haddad, the recently appointed business development manager for Temperature at Rand Air, talks about the new steam boiler rental offering and the peace of mind it offers for meeting local manufacturing and processing needs.
On May 8th this year Rand Air part of Atlas Copco Speciality Rental, had a launch for its new Temperature offering. “We have been running a soft launch since earlier this year, and we have already done a few projects using our 3 t boilers. We have now also taken delivery of two new German-built 8 t steam boilers, though, which is very exciting,” Haddad continues.
The quality and technology involved is remarkable, he says citing the European CE standard mark and design details. “This is the Rolls Royce of packaged boilers, 72hours unmanned, low emissions, fuel efficient with little details such as a mounted steel badge indicating the nose levels.”
A fire-tube packaged boiler with a delivery capacity of 7800 kg/h of steam at 14.5 barg, the new 8T dual-fuel boiler runs on any light liquid fuel, such as diesel or natural gas. Compared to standard coal-fired boilers in the South African market, our boilers are much cleaner and environmentally friendly, helping to reduce emissions and promote a greener future.
The unit is packaged to meet the needs of the rental industry. Built into the container is the boiler unit, a feedwater tank, along with all the filtration and water treatment systems needed. A simple easy to assemble chimney stack slides into the back of the unit during transport. Inside the doors you will find the control panel and Scada system with all the embedded connectivity and data collection features of a modern IIoT-ready plant.
“Rental boilers in South Africa is synonymous with older technology, coal fired boilers with multiple parts, coupling to the plant. Our Rand Air 8t steam boiler is an elegantly designed package. Everything needed to deliver steam to a plant, fits neatly into the container, and with a mass of just 28.7 t, it can be loaded onto the back of a road trailer for transportation to site,” he asserts.
With its partners, Rand Air can offer three rental options:
On all these options we offer boiler supervision and water treatment services to train existing personnel and to ensure efficient running of the packaged boiler plant.
By law steam boilers need to be inspected by an authorised inspection authority once per year, with a major inspection once every three years. During these inspections any wear to the boiler will be detected and repaired, resulting in downtime between from 1 week to a 1 month. Plants typically schedule these shuts during the Christmas break when demand is low and to minimise production losses.
This approach results in businesses competing for boiler inspection and repair resources over the December period.
“Renting a standby boiler to maintain steam production during a shutdown frees up the maintenance calendar and ensures adequate time for work to be done properly.” Haddad explains.
Another innovative offering from Rand Air, which is also available for steam boiler users, is Outcomes based pricing. The steam user is not involved in any of the boiler operation or management activities. “The boiler is fenced off and our operators run it. The customer only pays based on metered steam usage, just as you would pay for electricity and water from a utility,” Haddad explains.
This is an appealing option for customers trying to move away from coal without the headache of having to invest in a new plant and boiler operators. We are already engaging with customers who are interested in this option, but for now, it is a future vision.
“The future is likely to be a uncertain for the next few years. That is why rental is a great solution for South Africa. Rand Air can provide customers with the Temperature equipment they need, for steam and cooling, without them having to commit capital outlay. They can rent the equipment on a month-to-month basis and Rand Air will take care of any maintenance requirements.
“With uptime guaranteed our customers get the full benefit of high quality products that are energy efficient and clean. In addition, when a better one comes along, there is no need to ‘sweat the asset’ of older technology. We will happily bring the latest model to replace its older unit,” Edmund Haddad concludes.