Featured Articles from a recent edition of Superior Engineering's News Report:

Volume 2, No. 1, Third Quarter, 1997

1	Galv Line Requires Innovative Approach
2	Galv Line Technical Highlights
3	Teamwork, Client Partnership Spur Efficiency
4	NGPL Updates P&ID Drawings
5	Halox Taps S/E's Design-Build Expertise

Galv Line Requires Innovative Approach

It was a classic example of a challenge: how to configure a steel manufacturer's electro-galvanize line to fit in a building whose roof was 12 feet too low.

The project, which involved Superior Engineering in virtually all of its aspects, was a challenge that required a unique, completely nontraditional approach to configuring and upgrading parts of an existing line with new process components to most efficiently fit the space available at the new Metro Metals facility in East Chicago, Indiana.

Metro Metals retained S/E to locate existing equipment that met the client's specifications, as well as to provide the technical assistance to assess the condition of the existing line.

Superior located a galvanizing line owned by Ak Steel in Ohio that met Metro Metals' specifications. AK was willing to sell the terminal equipment portion of the line.

Once the sale of the equipment was confirmed, S/E assisted in the process of dismantling and configuring the components into coded modules for more efficient shipping and reassembly. S/E immediately began to develop the engineering that would be the basis for the reconfiguration of the line to fit the smaller building.

S/E handled the design, engineering and has participated in the construction phase, which began in April, 1996. The 850-foot line is scheduled for start-up late in the second half of 1997.

Reconfiguring the line was only part of Superior's assignment. Portions of the line had to be redesigned and modernized.

For instance, the line was not purchased with electro plating cells. That meant that S/E had to work with fabricators and consultants in the field to custom design new plating cells.

Part of the reconfiguration included a recalculation of line horsepower, speeds and tensions to ensure the line's ability to produce the desired product in the new configuration.

The line is designed for 70,000 lb. coils, 72" wide, .015" - .074" thick material with a process section speed of 300 feet per minute.

S/E's Julius Miklosy, P.E., manager for the project, said S/E's experience in the steel industry made the reconfiguration possible. At one point, S/E had assigned a team of 30 engineers and technical support staff to the project.

"Our function," Miklosy said, "was to act as Metro Metals representatives for total design, as well as to provide the technical support to Metro Metals through construction, commissioning and start-up, which are among the things we do especially well."

Ron Hunter, Superior's President and CEO, said he found the project to be gratifying from a number of perspectives.

"We've always taken a great deal of pride in the ability of our engineers and technicians to help our clients solve challenging problems. In fact, our client companies have come to depend on our problem solving skills."

Galv Line Technical Highlights

Superior's Julius Miklosy, said one of the key challenges was to develop a cell design that would meet the client's market niche. The new plating section consists of 5 cells (with provisions for one future cell) at 46,000 amps per cell. The cells were fabricated by FATA PMC. Anodes are state-of-the-art nonconsumable lead alloy-coated titanium base construction furnished by Republic Anode. Conductor rolls are water cooled, double -collector heads furnished by Keystone. S/E worked on a daily basis with ACMS who served as project construction manager, reprogrammed the line functions based on process parameters provided by S/E. S/E's Steve Leontaras coordinated all I/O with AB to accommodate the new line functionality. The plating solution system, employing the latest technology, is a zinc sulfate solution with side stream loops for filtration, temperature control, lead removal and zinc dissolution system. The line includes new processes such as a pre-cleaning section and a post-galvanizing-phosphating section, both designed by S/E and fabricated locally.

In addition, S/E provided design engineering for structural, foundations, electrical, piping, support utilities and process control criteria.

The line began operations in May, 1997 and is producing an extremely high quality product.

Teamwork, Client Partnership Spur Efficiency

Creative engineering solutions and experience were key factors in S/E's ability to design and assist with the recent start-up of a vapor control system on a dissolved air floatation unit operated by a major Midwestern refinery.

The real key to the success of the project, however, according to Ron Hunter, S/E's President and CEO, was the teamwork between the client, the construction contractor and S/E.

The client used our firm as an extension of their own talent, drawing on S/E judiciously for the resources they lacked," Hunter said.

"That kind of partnership resulted in a very successful project with a final budget that was several million under what had been allocated."

The system consisted of a hood, uptake ducts, main, blowers, controls and carbon canisters for emission control. The engineering phase took more than six months, which primarily involved gathering input from the client's project staff and the unit's operating, maintenance and training staffs.

The vapor control system was part of a larger project to bring the refinery's waste water treatment plant (WWTP) into compliance with Clean Air 1989 Amendments for Benzene NESHAR The WWTP handles more than 12 million gallons daily of refinery waste water with the potential to process an additional 30 mgd of rainwater. The water is processed through a bar screen, a grit chamber, an API separator, and equalization tanks before flowing to the Dissolved Air Floatation (DAF) unit. Effluent from the DAF is processed in an activated sludge plant.

Initially, the client used its own engineering staff. The approach, combined with a strong reliance on vendor-engineered products, served the client well until the DAF was considered.

The DAF consisted of an inlet flash mixer, inlet channel, seven flocculation cells, seven floatation cells, an effluent channel and effluent pumps. The structure was that of a seven-cell API separator that had been converted to a seven-cell DAF.

A major dilemma arose when the the team considered the approach to the floatation cells. Each flotation cell was 20 feet by 50 feet long and about 12 feet deep. A system of scraper boards ran above the water line on chains located along the walls parallel to the flow. The flight chain drive system projected about two feet above the water with the top of the system near the top of the concrete chain walls. The flight system pushed sludge to the end of the cell where it was collected in a screw and dumped into a sump for future pumping and incineration.

The system configuration posed a significant challenge to developing a simple, cost effective approach to floatation cell vapor control.

The client initially suggested that the DAF be enclosed in an environmentally controlled building.

This solution, however, posed many process safety flaws. For instance, the potential for the accumulation of hydrocarbon vapors, which would require gas testing when anyone entered the building.

The client abandoned the building approach and considered a new DAF or using new technology.

The DAF is below grade and is gravity fed by equalization tanks. Above ground tanks required for a new DAF or new technology would require various pumping schemes. That would have posed control challenges because the flow varies from 12 to more than 40 million gallons daily.

Above ground tanks, pumps and new processing technology also would have required more complex processes and increased power demand -- a significant problem because the unit has very limited operating and maintenance resources.

The need to work within the physical constraints of the existing system became clear to the client.

The idea of a "lab hood" over the system became the next consideration. In-house engineers were assigned part of the system, but the client decided to contract for the gas mechanics aspect of the project. S/E was selected over three other prominent firms to handle the project, primarily because of the client's knowledge of Superior's previous experience with large, industrial hood designs.

S/E's design team was guided by two client mandates:

1. the client will consider any approach, regardless of past paradigms, and
2. the design had to allow good visual access while preserving NESHAP requirements.

S/E developed 18 conceptual designs for the basic hood made with materials which included Gortex, aluminum, steel and fiberglass. The client selected aluminum because of cost and light weight.

Next, mechanical and structural design engineering analyses began. One concern was that during severe winters ice would form and pose a threat to mechanical systems. Several heat exchange options were considered by the client, including some that were complex and expensive, S/E proposed a solution that was both very cost efficient and simple -- a slip stream of recycled water used in the DAF process. The water temperature ranges from 80° to 100° F year around.

Airflow within the system was another concern. The system was designed to limit the mixture of hydrocarbon and air to below 24 percent of the lower explosion limit, under the temperature conditions discussed. A key variable was that the composition of the vapor stream generated by the refinery sewer system would vary greatly. The design of the hood system would be sufficiently vapor-tight that it presented the opportunity for S/E to introduce supplementary air streams into the system using an "air agitation" process. Using plant air, a header with nozzles directing flow into the hood panels was designed. Since the compressor air temperature is about 140° F., the supplemental heat contributed to the prevention of ice formation.

The major challenge of the structural team was how to safely add the design loads on top of a concrete box structure that was built in the early 1940s. S/E designed a special coring scheme and directed testing of the concrete. The tests showed that the top two feet of each of the box walls were structurally inadequate. Rebuilding the walls would have been expensive and would have forced the client to deal with significant downtime.

Rather than rebuild the walls, S/E's solution was to use columns to support the hood's superstructure -- columns that were designed to be integral to the walls.

The final design provided a smooth, neat profile that fit aesthetically with the environment.

The client stated that the system has been trouble-free and consistent with their design objectives.

NGPL Updates P&ID Drawings

Superior Engineering was recently selected by Natural Gas Pipeline Company (NGPL) to prepare new P&ID drawings of several of NGPL's facilities. NGPL has more than 60 plants throughout Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. S/E has completed the work at two plants and is nearing completion of the work at a third.

The drawings are being brought up to new standards established by NGPL. The company's pipeline network transports natural gas from producing fields on-shore and the Gulf of Mexico to natural gas treatment plants. Eventually, the gas is transported to utilities and consumers.

Doug Krause, project engineer, said the program has two principal advantages that updated P&lDs offer NGPL:

• Drawings that reflect current plant conditions can be used to train operators, maintenance and other personnel;
• The format of the new drawings will be standardized, which will permit operators and other personnel who move from plant-to-plant to work more efficiently.

Krause said the first step in the process at each plant is that NGPL turns over to S/E a complete set of drawings of that facility's systems.

These drawings typically include piping plans, plot plans, equipment general arrangements and P&ID/ flow diagrams as available.

Krause said, "We segregate the drawings by systems-- based on the guidelines supplied by the client." S/E then begins to develop the new P&lDs; in the new format on CAD.

When the new P&IDs have been completed, S/E visits the plant site to perform a system-by-system "walkdown" to confirm the accuracy of the drawings.

One recent plant visit was to an offshore platform about one hundred miles into the Gulf of Mexico. The field notes generated by the staff during the "walk-down" were incorporated into drawings in preparation of the final product.

The P&IDs in their final form are color-coded, which make the documents extremely useful as a training tool. As a companion to P&lDs, itemized material lists are also prepared which identify all valves, filters, instrumentation and equipment for the purposes of maintenance and inventory.

Krause said that S/E is uniquely qualified to handle the assignment. "Because of our years of experience working in such environments, we have developed extensive expertise in the basic operations of such facilities, as well as in pipe lines and instrumentation."

In addition, and especially important in such projects, the company has a team of highly skilled CAD system operators, who use state-of-the-art hardware and the Intergraph Micro Station software system.

Although the evolution of these updated drawings are not mandated by the requirements of Process Safety Management (OSHA 1910.119), NGPL has established a philosophy of applying the PSM standards of care to their documents on each of their facilities.

S/E News Report is published periodically by Superior Engineering and is intended solely for the benefit of Superior Engineering's current and prospective clients. No information contained in this publication may be reproduced or otherwise used without the written consent of Superior Engineering LLC For more information, contact one of the following S/E managers: Lou Adams, Ahmed Hanafi, P.E., or Cliff Kloc, P.E., S.E.

Halox Taps S/E's Design-Build Expertise

Superior Engineering served as the design-build contractor for Halox Pigments when the firm converted a warehouse into a research laboratory.

S/E's project manager, Lou Adams, said the project took just under nine months from inception to completion of construction.

Adams assigned a team of eight engineers and designers to the project.

"We are especially proud of the fact that we completed the project on time and within budget," Adams said.

Halox Pigments, a division of Hammond Group, Inc., had previously used a laboratory which became cramped and dated. The new facility is about a mile from the previous lab in Hammond, IN.

The 50 by 100-foot preengineered style building, which had been a warehouse, was converted by S/E into a modern laboratory with offices.

The Design-Build project included the furnishing of design, engineering, construction management and installation through S/E's alliance partner, Hasse Construction.

S/E assured that all work was performed in accordance with design drawings, prepared weekly construction progress reports, monitored progress and cost control and managed all financial aspects of the project -including monthly payments to the contractor, based on progress. Construction team and client meetings were held regularly to ensure efficient work flow.

Design and construction of the project included the addition of new plumbing and buried drains, installation of a new interior concrete sub-floor, addition of lab and office areas, rooms, partitions, interior lighting, heating and air conditioning, room ventilation, customized laboratory exhausts, power distribution -- including provisions for future building addition, new entry with vestibule, removal of large roll-up door replaced with siding, a fire sprinkler system and installation of all laboratory service utilities.

The heating and air conditioning system required a highly specialized design which allowed for close control of all internal laboratory environmental conditions, while at the same time considering the high air turnover brought about by the laboratory exhaust system.

S/E's design and engineering program also incorporated provisions for the expansion of the facility with a proposed two-story office and conference area addition.

S/E News Report is published periodically by Superior Engineering and is intended solely for the benefit of Superior Engineering's current and prospective clients.

These articles may not be reproduced or otherwise used without the written consent of Superior Engineering LLC.