We have extensive experience with the design, building and implementation of auxiliary systems to the furnace industry. These systems include bulk handling conveyors, water plants and cooling towers as well as all electrical reticulation and power supply.
Furnace upper shell and water plant cooling tower changes
Furnops has the backing of an industry leader in plant design, a company serving the mining, commercial and petrochemical industries. Our associate has 81 engineers, planners and designers.
Furnace design
Our team members have done the redesign of the upper shell (seen above) in a move from steel pipe to pipe panels to webbed copper panels. This included the total re-design of the cooling supply. Our members were also involved with the installation of the 3 x 3.5MW P.T.I. burner systems.
Burner panel design and locally manufactured burner box
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Plant optimisation
Our members has run a TCO (total cost of ownership) program for some South African plants as a member of a previous company where yearly savings requirements were R 13 600 000p.a. for the financial year 2007/8.
Current plot showing furnace oscillatory movement removed from furnace operation (RHS) and overhead crane upgrade (LHS)
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Training
Furnops offers training in furnace operation. The training document is targeted at the electrical, mechanical personnel and plant operators. The training can be adapted to various levels of personnel. The training document originates from work that was done as a masters thesis of one of our members.
The furnace training covers the following areas;
- Introduction to the arc furnace fundamentals
- Furnace metallurgy – steelmaking
- Furnace regulation measurement
- Mathematical modelling
- Impedance calculations
- PI Regulation function & Fuzzy logics
- Furnace Hydraulics
- Regulation setting description
- Furnace optimisation
- Introduction to high voltage reticulation and protection
Fuzzy logic set
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Project Management
Our members has been involved in numerous projects, however, the project worth mentioning is the engineering, design and upgrade of a 58t scrap melting furnace in South Africa. This project happened over a few years, however, the furnace is now in our opinion a benchmark furnace in the southern hemisphere.
Plant safety audits
One of our members has had 10 years experience as a GMR 2(1) engineer and has performed numerous safety inspections and accident investigations (of these 2 were prompted by loss of life). One of our members is currently the resident engineer at a refractory manufacturing plant in Vereeniging.
Supply of furnace consumables
Furnops uses its wide base of expertise to access the best products required for furnace and plant optimisation. These would include items such as electrodes, refractory’s, and furnace components.
Bulk handling systems
Our members have extensive experience in bulk alloy handling systems for heavy industry. uthern hemisphere.
Machining & Fabrication
Furnops has experience with the fabrication of furnace components
High voltage network design
Furnops uses ETAP – Electronic Transient Analysis Program, software for their high voltage analysis design. This design not only relates to network analysis but to harmonic filtering and motor starting studies. Furnops has done protection grading for large companies with many diverse types of loads. Generator sizing has been done for mines in the Gauteng area so that the correct generator is purchased for the application.
PLC programming and support
Furnops can offer technical support in PLC programming and network support. Furnops has done projects where functional descriptions are drawn up for existing PLC networks. In this way the plant personnel have a story book of the plant process.