Retrofitting - Optimisation - Modification
Experience has taught us that process plants such as conventional power plants, waste incineration, biomass or refuse-derived fuel-fired power plants, heating plants, etc., have a minimum life of 20 to 30 years. Naturally, during this long lifetime, adjustments, optimisation and modernisation of the facility become necessary.
There are many reasons for this:
- Adaptation to new legal requirements
- Adaptation to technical innovations / improvements
- Adaptation to new demands on the plant (thermal value, pollutants, energy output etc.)
- Replacement of mechanical and / or electrical components
- Optimisation of the plant for operation / maintenance
- Increased plant availability
- Improved plant performance
- Discontinued components from former suppliers etc.
For example, plants must be adapted to meet new legal requirements or because of a change in the fuel situation; technical innovations, which have proven successful over time, need to be installed into existing plants.
What is more, our customers are increasingly turning to us with challenges that have arisen as a result of the energy revolution and a fast-moving energy market. So, for example, we have repeatedly successfully implemented measures that were not even being discussed just a few years ago, and which the plants were not originally designed for (availability of balancing power /reserve power, provision of minutes reserve etc.).
To the experts at SAR it is clear that modification of an existing plant must be handled very differently from a new construction on the much talked of "green belt". An interdisciplinary team made up of experts from all branches - electricians, process control engineers, I &CE engineers, process engineers - analyse and understand the complex interdependencies within a system that has been built up over the years.
For modernisation there is generally only a very narrow widow available, after which the plant must be back in operation on schedule. Comprehensive inventories, detailed procedural planning and maximum concentration and motivation on the part of the team ensure the smooth running of the conversion works.