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
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
posted by yuvakuran at 12:00 PM
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