Track: Design and Analysis

Abstract

This paper is a review of boiler maintenance technologies currently used in the main power generation plants in South Africa: Sasol and Eskom (coal fired plants). The poor maintenance of the boilers at these plants has been the main cause of shortage of power due the boilers being down (breakdowns) for a period while the demand of energy usage remains the necessity for households and businesses around the country. At Sasol Synfuels power station in Secunda, East of South Africa, use of soot blower cleaning technology is shown to be a failure resulting in unplanned outages, with high cost of maintenance. A recently published paper discusses the design of an acoustic horn and its beam as an alternative technology that may be a better solution either to be used along with the current soot blower technology or independently should there be a need for a new design of boilers. In this paper the regulations for maintenance of pressure vessels in South Africa governing the maintenance of pressure equipment/piping (PER) are reviewed for the case of the boilers at these power plants.  It is found that each organisation has a duty to direct resources, develop skilled work force who are competent and appointed legal appointees (GMR2.1 General Machinery Regulations appointee) to make sure maintenance is done correctly and safely as per Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSACT). South African National Standards (SANS), American Standards of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and American Petroleum Institute (API) are also used international standards in supporting PER and Occupational Health and Safety Act, general machinery regulations