British Steel, working with contractors Heathyards and Altrad Babcock, has undertaken a £3m boiler upgrade at its Scunthorpe facility.
The site relies on boilers to generate steam and electricity to power production, so when one of the boilers at the company's Central Power Station began to leak as a result of long-time use, investment was required to return to ‘maximum efficiency.’
According to a report by Insider Media, the project involved sourcing 76.1mm diameter steel tubes, with the material used to manufacture the tubes having a chromium molybdenum addition, improving corrosion resistance and extending the performance life of the tubes.
Contractor Heathyards bent, shaped and welded the tubes off site and contract company Altrad Babcock then installed the new tubes, a task involving specialist equipment and a team of 50 with a total of more than 90,200 hours working on the project.
"This £3m investment allowed us to change tubes totalling 12,000 metres length and a combined weight of 60 tonnes.''
Bob Fish, plant engineer energy operations and fuel at British Steel
Bob Fish, plant engineer energy operations and fuel at British Steel, said: "This three-storey boiler is huge – it's the equivalent in size of 2.5 houses stacked on top of each other and contains thousands of tubes, totalling an astonishing 15,080 metres in length.
"This £3m investment allowed us to change tubes totalling 12,000 metres length and a combined weight of 60 tonnes. We've now brought the boiler back on line and, thanks to the hard work and skill of all involved, it's performing very well and providing a reliable service to the site."
Source: Insider Media
