A recent contract win by ANDRITZ EFB, in Punjab, India, doubled in size after additional market research by the customer – a leading Indian cattle feed company – identified even greater customer demand.
In addition to delivering full EPC capabilities, ANDRITZ also designed, supplied, installed and commissioned key processing equipment, alongside various materials-handling and -preparation solutions.
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CHALLENGES:
To extract maximum yield and to ensure optimal operation of both lines, the customer required a contemporary high-performance processing solution that was easy to operate and maintain by people from the local labour pool, many of whom would not have advanced process-control skillsets.
Further challenges that had to be overcome included: delays in the handover of a mill tower, which directly affected the commencement of downstream activities, including equipment installation and commissioning; prolonged rainfall over a two-month period, which significantly hindered site-erection activities; and festivals, such as Diwali, combined with national elections, which saw a measurable shortage of skilled and unskilled labour.
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SOLUTIONS:
ANDRITZ undertook significant pre-engineering prior to the contract win and then completed all the necessary adaptations as the customer’s subsequent market research saw the greenfield project double in size, with the addition of another line, taking plant capacity up to 4 lakh (400,000) metric tonnes per annum (MTPA).
ANDRITZ was given responsibility for all Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) activities and delivered key processing equipment, including pellet mills, mixers, hammer mills, EFF filters, conditioners and screw feeders. In addition to the core machines, ANDRITZ also sourced and installed material handling equipment, including bucket elevators, screw conveyors, drag chain conveyors, and filters, along with fabricated items such as bins & hoppers, cyclones, cooler ducts, spouts and chutes. A spark-detection system, sensors and explosion vents completed the full-service package.
RESULTS AND OUTCOMES:
The plant output and quality levels are well within the customer’s desired parameters, and both lines are designed in such a way that their output can be increased if required to match growing market demand.
According to Mr. RM. Valliappan, Vice President, operations at ANDRITZ EFB: “We have supplied similar plants in many different countries, including India, and the customer was able to use these as reference projects. It also gave them the confidence to give us the full EPC remit, which, when combined with our complete-solution approach to projects, proved to be highly successful."
“The project was not without its challenges, but despite the customer-instigated delay and the various festival, weather and election hold ups, we were able to hit the target dates by accelerating work within the installation phase – a remedy that was helped with the excellent working relationships we had with the customer’s engineering teams. Indeed, we had at least seven ANDRITZ personnel on site throughout the entire project.”
The final solution saw all equipment delivered to site as per the agreed timeline and within agreed budgets, thanks to strong planning, efficient execution and effective utilisation of all personnel and equipment resources. Project safety was rated as “no harm”, which also saw the project’s ‘1 million safe man‑hours’ win an internal safety recognition award from management.
