MechChem Africa talks to Stefano Testi, who has a 27-year history with KSB Pumps and Valves in South Africa, and Casper Steenkamp, KSB’s Secunda branch manager, about the company’s preferred provider status in South Africa for API 610 pumps, mainly for the petrochemical market but also for applications in the chemical and energy markets.
The specification for the KSB Type OH2 pump makes up some 90% of all API 610 business for KSB in South Africa.
“Most of our new business is currently coming from the petrochemical industry, where Sasol is a key customer for our API 610 pump range,” begins Stefano Testi, project sales for the petrochemical and energy sectors. “As their preferred API 610 pump supplier, at KSB we are very heavily reliant on Sasol, where there has been an increase in the number of new local projects, and which is really good news for us,” he continues.
KSB, he says, is in a fortunate position with respect to API 610 pumps, which are typically used for pumping hydrocarbons, often at high temperatures, or dangerous substances such as ammonium nitrate. “There are also applications that involve high temperature water or high pressure and temperature requirements, such as at Concentrated Solar Power installations. Mostly, though, API 610 pumps are used for hydrocarbon applications at refineries,” he explains.
“We are currently supplying our KSB API 610 type OH2 pumps for a number of projects in the Sasol stable, and expect this to continue. There was a time when the Petrochemical Market was booming, so we also have a substantial installed base, mostly with Sasol, but also in the remaining refineries.”
Describing the API 610 specification for this pump design, Testi says the Type OH2, which makes up some 90% of all API 610 business for KSB in South Africa, is an end suction, vertical discharge, radially split process pump. “We have the option to fully manufacture these pumps locally in South Africa, and have patterns for the majority of the range, which include the casings, covers, impellers and bearing brackets. Where the logistics make sense, however, we can also import components for local assembly, or fully made up pumps from one of a number of KSB Group companies around the world,” he says, adding that the company’s preference is always to manufacture the pumps locally when possible.
“We are the only company in South Africa that can locally produce the OH2 design pumps. Competitors can import them and they will perhaps add a motor, coupling and a locally manufactured base plate, but we alone have the ability and capacity to fully manufacture these API 610 pumps locally,” he adds.
Companies such as Sasol have stringent requirements with respect to procurement and the technical specifications of their products. “KSB meets all these requirements and is, therefore, the preferred supplier to a number of EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) companies in South Africa, including Wood and MegChem. Supply contracts will generally come via one of these companies.
“Local manufacturing also gives us an additional advantage in power generation for high-pressure, high-temperature applications. For concentrated solar power, for example, we supplied our API 610 pumps for pumping heat transfer oil at the 100 MW Ilanga 1 solar thermal power station near Upington in the Northern Cape, which operates at a very high design temperature. The EPC on this project was from Spain, so our local manufacturing capacity was a key factor in securing the business,” Testi tells MechChem Africa.
“Although KSB in Germany has started supplying its own mechanical seals, mostly for water, chemicals and slurry applications, we source the mechanical seals we use for our API 610 pumps from global specialists such as John Crane, AESSEAL and EagleBurgmann, all of whom are suppliers accredited by Sasol and other petrochemical companies,” he says.
Also, OH2 pumps are a centreline mounted design, allowing expansion on either side of the casing centre-line to minimise the impact of high temperature – operating temperatures can be up to 450 °C. They are also extremely high-pressure, up to 200 bar.
“We supply API 610 pumps to the latest edition (12th) released in January 2021, with our parent company in Germany guiding us with variances that need to be implemented. Mechanical seal companies and pump companies, including KSB, are represented on the API committee, so they know what the latest revisions are going to be long before they are published. It is all safety driven, though, across the size and capacity range.
“The smallest pump we offer has a 25 mm (1-inch) discharge diameter and the biggest we produce in South Africa has a 250 mm (10-inch) discharge.”
Contacts and logistics: the differentiator
While KSB pumps are built to the best global standards, what is most significant, according to Stefano Testi, is that KSB Pumps and Valves has support fom the Contracts Division for the execution, delivery and logistics of all project orders. “As soon as we receive an order, it is handed over to our contracts department for processing: submitting all the drawings and documents required for approval, ensuring that they have the QCPs (quality control plans) approved where applicable, all manufacturing, organising purchases from sub-suppliers, including castings from foundries or possibly imported from KSB Group Companies, etc.
“We have 10 additional offices around the country, including one in Secunda and one in Vanderbijlpark to assist Sasol 1, 2 and 3. We also have a very competent SupremeServ Division for services and aftermarket. So, our offering to the petrochemical industry goes well beyond the manufacture and supply of API 610 pumps. We offer project execution and service deployment at a level I do not believe other pump companies can,” he suggests.
“In addition, our engineering, sales teams and our customers receive support from our service department. We have opened up an accredited service centre at our Secunda office, for example, dedicated to the service and repair of the API 610 pump fleet on Sasol’s Secunda site.
“We have also established an SES (system efficiency services) team that goes to customer sites to evaluate pump efficiency: for example, to see if the energy efficiency can be improved, and to evaluate the overall performance. When we repair or refurbish a pump, we strive to put it back into service as near to its ‘as-new’ condition as possible. In addition, should the client need it, we can put the refurbished pump through our testing bay to verify its true efficiency and pump performance,” he informs MechChem Africa.
Casper Steenkamp, Secunda branch manager adds: “Compared to other pump brands, and because of our existing footprint, we have a significant contract with Sasol for the supply of spares for servicing its process pumps.”
“With offices close to our key customers, we offer a holistic service for our API 610 Pumps, from cradle to grave: starting with engineering expertise, sales professionalism, contracts and logistics for the delivery of new pump projects and followed by a total pump life service offering to help clients achieve the best possible value from their investments,” he says.
“If our aftermarket service were not exceptional, we would never have become a preferred supplier,” Testi concludes.