An audit carried out on the thermoelectric Catalina Point warns of danger due to failures in the handling of coal and the operation of Unit 2 without official proof of capacity.
The first stage of the technical audit to the coal plant Catalina Point it was based solely on the design of the infrastructure and compliance with good engineering practices for coal-fired power plants.
This study, carried out by the Sargent & Lundy, LLC (“S&L”), and disclosed by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, revealed that, in general, the established design criteria, the concepts and standards and equipment used by the consortium made up of Odebrecht, Technimont and Estrella, were adequate, with some exceptions regarding the contract specifications that have been translated in massive failures and delays in the operation of the electricity generator.
The first failure that the auditing firm points out is in the management of coal. It specifies that the tube conveyor used to transport coal from the dock to the storage area is experiencing massive and simultaneous roller failures after each unloading cycle, “causing operational delays.”
Sargent & Lundy He considers that the most likely problem is that the rollers are poorly sized for the loads exerted by the system.
“According to the documentation, the rollers supplied are from the E-series of CEMA (the Conveyance Equipment Manufacturers Association). Could not find any documentation verifying load capacity; however, based on the bearing sizes listed in the design documents, the CEMA series appears to be the one.”, the document states.
The firm indicated that, at the time of conducting the audit, it was not provided with calculations showing the roller load requirements for the pipe carrier and therefore indicated that it is unclear whether CEMA’s E-series is sufficient. . “However, based on the operational problems, it is clear that they are not. This may be due to design or manufacturing issues in the bearings or roller support frames.”
The company explained that operational problems can also place excessive load on the rollers, such as overloading of the conveyors, excessive belt buckling, larger than specified packages, etc.
Páginas has the report that is divided into five deliverables, released by Energy and Mines.
The company determined that the tube carrier pickup clearly deviated from the specification of the cdeee and that, furthermore, the plant has been experiencing power failures that make the operation of the conveyor dangerous
He explained that “the tensioner must be repaired after each delivery of coal. Pickup problems can cause damage to conveyor components due to excessive belt buckling as the belt stretches without proper tension, especially when the conveyor is running at higher than normal speeds.”
He also indicated that the plant experiences recurring failures in the pipe conveyor belts after each ship unloading operation. He noted that the supplied tape is called “Conti Pipe” and exceeds the requirements of the specification of the cdeee which is already specifically designed to work with pipe carriers.
“It is not clear, through design review, what is the primary cause of these failures, however it is reasonable to speculate that the observed problems with the tension system are causing excess belt buckling outside of parameters. design that can cause misalignment”Audit firm of Punta Catalina
belt conveyors
The audit found no problem with the trough belt conveyor; however, as with the pipe carrier, the firm said it found the take-up path did not meet CEMA requirements of 2.5% center-to-center plus 600mm for spliced vulcanized belts.
Recovery of porticos
The auditor said that he did not observe any deviations from the specifications of the CDEEE concerning the porticoes, however, he found that the automatic lubrication systems have not operated correctly since commissioning, which is why he suggests that the consortium solve these problems directly.
Dock Structure
On the structure of the furniture, the audit firm highlighted that the corrosion of the external piles. By way of recounting, he said that both parties, the CDEEE and the construction company decided to protect the submersible part of the piles with a sacrificial anode system, leaving the external part exposed.
“There is no paint or other protection system visible on the exposed part of the pile, and considerable corrosion of the exposed section is clearly visible.”
Continuing with the piles, Sargent & Lundy recommended to verify that the subsea anode system installed correctly and implement measures to stop corrosion or reinforce the piles if necessary.
On the subject of boilers, fans and air heater, the audit revealed that there are items that do not meet the requirements of the contract specifications, equipment that was specified, but not supplied, and design basis criteria that cannot be verified. from the available data and that require further investigation to resolve.
fire protection system
During a visit by the auditing company to the thermoelectric plant, it observed fire system installation and operational reliability problemsalthough in the same audit it revealed that the plant is aware of this and is working to correct it.
The test reports demonstrate compliance with the net production guarantee values of the construction company awarded in Unit 1 of Punta Catalina, not so in No. 2, which was never subjected to official tests, the audit entity highlights. “Unit 2 testing was never officially conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the testing program. Nor were measurements made for the noise levels of Unit 1, tests were not carried out for the minimum load capacity and the noise of Unit 2”, or simply the firm Sargent & Lundy did not receive the record of these tests, limited the audit. The firm Sargent and Lundy conducted the audit between November 2021 and October 2022.
