Engineering & Mining Journal

JAN 2016

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others are being taken directly to Fort Hills for installation. The project's engineering, procure- ment, fabrication and construction con- tractor for utilities is adopting a similar approach. "Fluor will apply our unique modular design and execution approach," said Jim Brittain, president of its energy and chemicals business for the Americas region, announcing the contract award in 2014. "We will fabricate a significant number of components off-site in order to deliver both schedule and capital efficien- cies to Fort Hills." And this is not the first time that Fluor has been involved in delivering a modular solution to a mineral processing project. Located close to tidewater in an other- wise inaccessible location, Vale's Voisey's Bay nickel complex ticks all of the boxes as far as being a candidate for modular plant construction is concerned. Its Long Harbour hydrometallurgical processing plant, which came on stream in 2014 and for which Fluor was the EPC con- tractor, made extensive use of pre-assem- bled modules. Weighing between 100 and 1,100 met- ric tons (mt), the modules were assembled at fabrication yards on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence before being delivered to the site by a fleet of nine tug-and-barge units. Once there, they were off loaded onto self-propelled modular trans- porters (SPMTs) for the 3-km journey to site. The Benefits... E&MJ; asked some of the world's suppliers of modular plant solutions for their views on the benefits associated with using this concept. Referring to its flagship Python plant, Nigel Grigg, business development manager of the Australian company Gekko, noted that the modular design allows it to build the plant at its manufacturing facili- ties in Australia and completely factory commission each module before it is packed and sent to the remote site. The factory commissioning stage allows it to ensure that everything is working as it should, and speeds up construction and commissioning on-site, he told E&MJ; . Each module is designed to be trans- ported within shipping containers, which also allows operators to pack and unpack a plant when required. "This is a great ben- efit when considering exploiting smaller or satellite deposits," Grigg pointed out. Other advantages of this approach include the ability to expand or upgrade a plant easily, while maintaining a small plant footprint. In financial terms, capital costs are lower in most cases, while residual val- ues can be higher when a project has been completed, he added. With its background in the oil and gas and chemicals industries, Fluor told E&MJ; that it has designed and built thousands of modules over many years and in many locations. The company's executive direc- tor for mining and metals business devel- opment, Matthew Cobbett, explained that modular plants have evolved from smaller prefabricated units to macro units where up to 90% of a facility can be pre-assem- bled and commissioned before transport to site, while pointing out that modular plants require smaller teams of workers on site and can reduce build times by up to 30%. "This approach therefore offers schedule certainty when selected early in the study phase," he stated. "Better workforce safety is another major benefit, with work shifted to a con- trolled shop environment," Cobbett said. "This also cuts the total overall project hours while reducing work at height and with less need to use cranes. The construc- tion schedule is shortened because the modules are built in a controlled environ- ment, providing better quality control at a lower cost, and greater opportunities for completing the project on time." Cobbett added that this approach can also result in significant capital cost sav- ings when at least some of the following project conditions exist: • Remote location site; • Site subject to adverse weather conditions; • Limited local skilled craft labor; • Short supply of construction equipment and small tools; • Greater labor efficiency or lower labor rates are available at a fabrication yard; and • Suitable transport, receiving and handling facilities are available for the modules. Speaking from the viewpoint of a spe- cialist crushing and conveying plant manu- facturer, Spencer Kossl, product applica- tion manager for Telsmith, agreed that mechanical installation in the field is typi- cally 30% quicker because modules are pre-assembled and disassembled in the company's factory before delivery. All mod- ules are bolted together and do not require any field welding, he said, while Telsmith's stationary conveyors have a bent plate modular design that allows assembly and installation much more quickly than a standard truss/channel section conveyor. Idlers, walkways and other components are preinstalled and containerized. Kossl told E&MJ; that using pre-engi- neered designs accelerates the structural design engineering process. This in turn cuts engineering costs, and means that individual modular footprints can be released almost immediately. In addition, static and dynamic loadings can be released quickly for foundation design, so that staking arrangements for site work is completed more efficiently. Using modular concepts also means that relocation and design upgrades are more straight-forward, Kossl said. JANUARY 2016 • E&MJ; 27 www.e-mj.com M O D U L A R P L A N T S Telsmith screens and conveyors between the primary and secondary stages of a modular operation.

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