For over 130 years, Babcock has been trusted to deliver technology and solutions to the steam generation markets in Africa. In 1891, Babcock supplied the first boiler to South Africa’s gold mining industry, and over the decades has designed and supplied many steam boilers used in the utility and industrial sectors in the region. As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Babcock has the expertise to design, build, operate, maintain and manage complex steam-generated infrastructure to meet the critical requirements of its customers.
Roger O’Callaghan CEO Babcock International.
Babcock supports an agenda of sustainable development and is committed to helping customers optimise their operations and reduce their impact on the environment in line with global climate change objectives. To this end, Babcock has entered into a strategic alliance agreement with US-based Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) to jointly market B&W’s thermal and environmental technologies in southern Africa. B&W was established more than 150 years ago and is regarded as a world leader in developing technologies that can generate power more efficiently, safely and reliably. The company designed the first ever water-tube boiler and continues to be committed to bringing environmentally conscious, technology-driven solutions and services to energy and industrial customers worldwide.
Thava Govender, Chief Executive Officer of Babcock’s engineering business, explains that through this alliance, Babcock’s power and industrial customers have access to a wealth of proven international technologies that can be applied to address local challenges such as emission reduction, power reliability, and renewable energy.
He confirms that some of these technologies have already been successfully implemented in South Africa, and such as a nitrogen oxide (NOx) abatement solution that Babcock provided for a large industrial petrochemical plant in association with B&W. After an extensive technology selection process, the compact Babcock & Wilcox DRB-XCL® low NOx burner was found to be the most suitable, and ongoing boiler installations at the petrochemical plant have reached emission levels of almost 40% lower than the legal requirements.
Babcock also worked in partnership with B&W to upgrade electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) on boiler units at a power station. Babcock designed and built in the 1980s while B&W owns the technology of the original design of the precipitators. Using technology not available at the time, Babcock and B&W are bringing the boiler units into the 2020s, enabling the power station to comply with latest emission regulations and reducing the impurities by 50%.
David Milner, Director Sales and Business Development Sub-Saharan Africa at B&W, says that Babcock can draw on a range of other B&W technologies to customise engineering solutions for any complex steam generation challenge. Among the technologies available from Babcock that can help customers achieve their environmental and optimisation objectives are:
- boiler cleaning
- ash handling
- flue gas desulphurisation (both wet and dry)
- bubbling fluidised bed boilers
- circulating fluidised bed boilers
- coal pulveriser systems
- boiler controls and optimisation
- industrial package boilers
- chemical recovery boilers
- waste to energy plants.
Milner says that there is also a growing interest in South Africa in technologies such as carbon capture, oxy-fuel firing, and hydrogen production and utilisation. While still in their infancy locally, B&W has successfully implemented these technologies in other parts of the world and Babcock can help customers explore solutions for future challenges in association with B&W.
In addition to its strategic alliance with B&W, Babcock has supplier or agency agreements with a suite of specialised international partners to provide customers with the best solutions and products available. For example, Babcock has entered into a long-term contract with Spanish company Tubos Reunidos to receive high-pressure boiler tubing on an ongoing basis. Tubos Reunidos are certified up to x20 tubing material and can manufacture tubing according to Babcock’s stringent specifications. Additionally, Babcock is the exclusive agent for Persta high-pressure valves in southern Africa. Manufactured in Germany, these valves are fully forged, conform to EN and ASME specifications and are synonymous with durability and quality.
“We manage the entire combustion value chain, from engineering to execution, and together with our technology partners and suppliers, we can identify opportunities to implement environmental and optimisation solutions throughout the various stages of the lifecycle, from analysing how a boiler manages a specific type of coal, to how emissions can be reduced,” concludes Govender.
