Monday, February 18, 2019

How to publish book on energy?

How to publish a book on energy

Every year at the end of that year, I make a compilation of my weekly energy articles in the form of a PDF book format. Then I publish in PDF on the internet. If you want to read, download the information, you may print on paper, make your own book, or simply read as a paper book. Since it is in PDF format, the younger generation prefers to read from iphone or ipad. My articles are published in editor control. The editor's contribution on the text is too important. The editor is correcting the logic of the expression, typos, errors. He makes it more readable.

The same book also has its English edition. I publish the articles in Turkish as well as in English. My English editor with his native English speaking capacity,  my book is  under his the supervision, so the texts are properly-controlled. I'm making them a PDF book at the end of the year. They are also running on the internet. You can see the number of readers and their country of origin  in Internet publishing. My Turkish and English PDF books have a large number of readers. If I  can publish them as a paper book, I cannot reach so many readers all over the world. Not only have readers from Europe, USA, but also from Far East, India, China, South America.

I have sent  pdf - word version of my book to a large number of publishers for the paper printing book. Most of the similar negative answers are received.
"We're not working on this subject. We are not the proper publisher for your book", technical publishers evaluate the book "too popular", whereas popular publishers find my book too "technical".

It is possible to publish your book by spending your own money. For 1000-each paper book, depending on the quality and size of 3000-4000 Turkish Lira (500-600 $), you can have the as-is printing. If you want to edit your book, you should pay 1500-2000 lira more (250-300$), if you want distribution and advertising, you should pay 1000-1500 lira (200-300$). You also need to do your own advertising, arrange interview for the sale of your book, you should appear in the news, go on a TV program. It is very difficult for an author to pay the cost to do all this.

Articles on our energy theme are actually something like writing articles on water. The current mottos are lost in time. Everything changes in time. While explaining how the thermal power plants work in harmony with the environmental equipment, the implementation of the day-to-day thermal power plants is stopped, financing is no more possible, the investors are turning to other energy sources.

The use of natural gas has decreased and natural gas fired power plants are closed since their electricity production unit kwh prices have increased very much. While  domestic coal wet lignite production has reached to record 100 million tons in 2018, total electricity production remained the same, 295 million kWh. In other words, electricity production has not increased because there is no new investment.

Wind solar hydro-storage hybrid power plants now are more popular. CFB thermal applications are failing for out domestic wet lignite coal, due to expensive additional-preheating-dewatering equipment needs. Full-time continuous running becomes harder, maintenance repair refurbishment comes dearly. The first feasibility is failing..

You feel that nuclear is a must. However the final produced electric kwh unit price is getting very expensive. Feasibility studies do not see the investment possible. Investors leave nuclear projects one by one. Investment is no longer economic. The countries is turning into an prestige effort to become a nuclear power. Countries' investment feasibility, sound economy and credibility are gaining importance.

One of the publishers I met at a book fair gave me the following advice.
"Your articles may be good, but this topic doesn't sell in our market as a paper book. Tell one or two erotic stories, don't fall into pornography level, choose the words well, write it like our famous Turkish writers Orhan Pamuk, Ahmet Altan, Ahmet Umit. This template sells a lot.".

Socialism articulates eroticism, but marketization is made by capitalism.
Cinema TV Internet Print Publishing Art Literature Music Opera are always full of these examples. Our energy sector works in proper decent life. I have never seen a news story on this issue in visual or written media.

I've heard a lot of love stories while working in the factory or office. Our youth was filled with romantic love stories. People would meet, fall in love, get married, make children,  spend our life dealing with their health and school subjects. W would buy a house and a car,  we go on holiday together in the summer. The incomes were only sufficient for expenses.

I finished school, get married, raised children in difficult times, now I look at grandchildren, I take her to the children's playground, walk her down the road, watch cartoon movies on TV together, play lego, read fairy tale books. I pray God that I have more grandchildren.

Istanbul, 17- February 2019

How to choose the designer company

Choose the best designer company, cheap price is not the best price

In the Western Anatolia, there was a purificatiom plant, which was built near the boron mine. The boron mine was cleaned from the rocks and soil and then purified. The facility wanted to go one step further, to make further purification, to increase the quality and price of its boron product. They bought the necessary technology for the job. The new technology needed 10-Mwe autoproducer steam turbine and a steam boiler firing natural gas and fueloil to produce 55 tons of steam per hour at high pressure and temperature. They opened an international tender.

We joined the tender as a Turkish-American joint venture company. We were licensee of a reputable American steam boiler company to offer of a steam boiler bid. Our price was  $ 1.75 million with 2-years of delivery as of 1997. We received the order.
We have drawn all of the main general arrangement and detail drawings in accordance with the American boiler manuals and Asme standards. The high pressure steam boiler required special high alloy stainless steel tubes in the boiler. We bought special alloy tubes from abroad.

The boiler was too big. In the factory, we made steel parts, boiler tube walls, superheating tubes and the drums. Then we moved them with trucks to the site. We had a long installation on the field. In two years, the work was over, the boiler has installed, we had cold and hot pressure tests, we have made the trial run. We have received the full field acceptance, we got work completion certificate, final payment, letter of guarantee, we left the field.

Our long term license agreement with our American company was ended. We had an economic crisis in the country, our Local joint venture company could not received new orders, so it was closed, the factory  was sold. Our competitors were also closed.

Ten years later, in year 2007, Boron mine company which was privitised by that time, decided to make a new facility next to the mine in the same boron mine plant field.
A local construction contractor company received the order for complete industrial plant work. In the scope, there was a need for a 30-Mwe steam turbine and natural gas-fueloil fired  steam boiler to produce 160 tons of steam per hour.

The main contractor called for the specialist designer company who can supply the boiler to the industrial plant. They found one of the few experienced companies and signed a contract. The local subcontractor would find a foreign boiler firm, that would deliver the license, design and special manufacturing of the steam boiler.
The local desiner company has found a Chinese steam boiler company. The Chinese engineers came to the boron mine field. They took the pictures of our existing steam boiler as well as technical overview, and specs. Then they gave a very affordable cheap price together. Their Offer was $ 3m in 2007, with delivery in 3-years.

New technical drawings were drawn with AutoCad. They were sent here via internet. Non-pressurized steel components were manufactured here-pressure parts of steam tubes, drums, safety valves, sootblowers, instrumentation from China.
Under the supervision of supervisors, local companies completed the field construction and installation.

Now they were to carry out cold and hot pressure test and trial run. The boiler was burned with a fuel oil supply, the temperature and pressure were gradually increased over time, reaching a full load of 160 tons per hour, then the steam tubes of the steam boiler began to burst one by one. The boiler was stopped immediately. Everybody was Confused, everyone blaming each other.

The Chinese company left the site immediately, they escaped, disappeared.
They had already bought their design and equpment money. Two local firms, the main contractor construction company and the sub-subcontractor company, which has made industrial facilities, they have been opened court cases to each other.

The facility was stopped working for long. The case came to your author, unofficially asked to review the situation. What happened? Why is it? I reviewed the drawings.

The Chinese company took pictures of our first American licensed steam boiler during their site-seeing visit. It appeared that, at home, the designers has increased the steam boiler volume, superheater and fuel oil burners three times, and they have drawn and elaborated new enlarged images in the same image.

Other equipment such as soot blowers, pumps, fans have similarly grown.
They activated them without a reference.
But there's something they've missed.
We did not write the quality and dimensions of steam boiler tubes to the overall  general arrangement drawings. The details were in the other shop drawings but we didn't give them. The Chinese had used simple steel tubes instead of a special alloyed thick steel seamless tubes. So the simple c-steel boiler tubes burst at full load.

At the end, domestic companies agreed between them, new alloy boiler tubes were renewed, cold hot pressure tests were made, boiler worked, delivered. Meanwhile, a lot of time and money were lost. Both firms entered monetary difficulties and they were forced to close down. The local market lost two experienced companies.

The same situation exists today in new large thermal power plants.
They work but where? And until when?

Istanbul, 17-February 2019

Friday, February 01, 2019

Uzbekistan bid in 1993



To bid a tender which you can not win, Uzbekistan bid in 1993

USA companies ask upfront fees for proposal they prepare for expensive projects, in order to be sure that project is real, the client is serious and the buyer also share their cost of proposal expenses.  This figure could be between 10k- 50k$. For a big thermal power plant tender, we were the lıcal partner, the US license holder asked us to pay 50k$ upfront to cover their proposal expenses.
This is again a case for John Nash "game theory", and subsequently we learn by making practice in time.
In long past, your writer was working in machine plant of a public company. We were manufacturing two types of industrial size steam boilers under license of German VKW boiler company. Later in time VKW is sold to another conglomerate. That entity later was sold again. So we were manufacturing fuel oil burning 50 tons per hour at 20-bar slightly superheated steam capacity steam boiler. Moreover we were also manufacturing another boiler with 100 tons per hour same pressure temperature but firing low quality local lignite coal on cast iron louver grades. We were manufacturing in a mass fabrication for our new plants as well as replacement of old plants. We knew every detail of the fabrication, but we had no idea of the cost. We were buying steel sheets, seamless boiler tubes, safety valves, instrumentation from the local market.
Then I changed my job and joined a private contractor company with boiler license of a reputable US manufacturer. We were making in-house design, and manufacture package type industrial size steam boilers in our modest size fabrication plant. We were buying steel sheets, insulation, seamless boiler tubes, burners, safety valves, soot blowers, instrumentation from international suppliers.
There were two local competitors in the market. First one was in Izmir with exclusive German boiler license. The other was in Istanbul Tuzla with Variety of foreign licenses case by case basis. Price levels were well known. Competition was very hard. Due to many ongoing industrial investments, domestic market was in high demand of industrial size boilers. We were trying to cut the expenses.
One day, we received a proposal request from my public company with tender specs same as their 50- tons per hour fuel oil firing steam boiler. It was not logical. They were manufacturing the same size steam boiler in their facilities. I visited their head office for further explanation of this nonsense situation. They explained me  that they have received an order to build 3- plants in Uzbekistan through government to government agreements each to process 3000 tons of sugar beets per day to produce sugar. Earlier Uzbekistan was producing only cotton for Soviet republics, and they had no sugar production. Uzbek authority had discomfort for steam boilers and they decided to initiate international outsourcing. We were asked to compete with their own boilers for Uzbek plants. In the proposal department, we were uneasy to make any effort since in any case the public company would not buy from us. We should not spend our limited human resources for this futile project. However our private company board decided to deliver "a highly competitive quote" for this project.
So within one month, we delivered our most competitive offer for 3-each package type each with 50 tons per hour superheater steam capacity at 20-bar at 1-m US$ each, with FOT Ankara plant delivery within 11-months plus one month site installation under our supervision.
At that time their loose design, completely site erected steam boiler had 2-million US$ each price with minimum 2-years delivery. Our shop man hour cost was 5US$ whereas theirs 25- US$.
We delivered our proposal and waited for 90-days for evaluation and final decision. We have been later informed that our proposal was not considered and they proceeded with their boilers. Delivery was not important, since overall plant delivery was 5-years. Their plant was available to fabrication. Our proposal expenses were futile. Uzbeks were satisfied to go with the existing major supplier and the cost differential was not important any more. Moreover their public finance package could not be shared by private entities.
Now these days, there are many industrial plants in Uzbekistan. They place orders to international private companies since they earn hard currency by selling their natural resources. We consequently were very careful to respond to public tenders.
That public company is then partially sold to private entities in time. Plant is not in operation any more. Private company has not renewed their US boiler license. Their manufacturing plant is also sold. A new shopping mall is built in its place.
Our local market has no intention nor ready to pay for intellectual property, special consultancy, or any original design. That is not the case in North America nor in the Western Europe. If you request an original design, consultancy, even a detailed proposal, then you should be ready to pay their bidding cost.
Our geography will learn in time.

Ankara, 31- January 2019

---
Haluk Direskeneli, is a graduate of METU Mechanical Engineering department (1973). He worked in public, private enterprises, USA Turkish JV companies (B&W, CSWI, AEP), in fabrication, basic and detail design, marketing, sales and project management of thermal power plants. He is currently working as freelance consultant/ energy analyst with thermal power plants basic/ detail design software expertise for private engineering companies, investors, universities and research institutions. He is a member of ODTÜ Alumni and Chamber of Turkish Mechanical Engineers Energy Working Group.



Click to join EnergyNewsletterTurkey

Click to join EnergyNewsletterTurkey

Free Blog Counter