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GC Main Replacement
Otto Simon Ltd • April 20, 2017
Otto Simon has completed the Gas Collector Main Renewal at British Steel’s Appleby Coke Ovens.
Otto Simon is currently working in partnership with British Steel to repair and rebuild Battery 2 of the Appleby Coke Ovens at Scunthorpe.
After performing a detailed inspection of the battery, it was noted that parts of the Gas Collecting Main were in such a bad condition that they would be unrepairable by the over plating method used in other areas. Otto Simon's scope for the repair and build of Battery 2 includes renewing all of the Ascension Pipes; however, trying to remove the Ascension Pipes whilst the GC Main was in this state presented significant risk to plant operations. British Steel therefore made the decision to replace the areas around the affected ovens.
This type of project has not been attempted before, and presented many unusual challenges. Otto Simon executed the project in sections; paying close attention to lessons learned on each section to improve the methodology and execution as the project progressed.
Although the ovens in question were taken out of commission during project execution, the rest of the facility remained operational and therefore close cooperation with the Battery Control, By-Products Control and Gas Control Fuel Department was essential to ensure the continued operations were not affected, and equally that they did not affect the task. Good radio communication was established which allowed instant updates and actions to be taken, if required.
Furthermore, regular monitoring of the gas and oxygen levels to ensure they were kept at <5% throughout the project delivery was essential to a safe project execution.
Thanks to the close communication between Otto Simon and British Steel this project to replace the GC Main on Batter 2 has been successfully completed without lost time injury, and without disrupting plant operations.
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