As bottled water continues to gain popularity in Australia, maintaining the quality and purity of the water extracted from natural springs is paramount.
This is just one example within the food and beverage sector where hygiene is vitally important and, therefore, stainless steel continues to be the material of choice for processing and storage facilities.
In 2011, Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) commissioned ‘Project Flint’ to upgrade three spring water storage tanks for their Moorabbin plant in Victoria plus an additional two tanks for their Thebarton plant in South Australia.
GEA Process Engineering Australia engaged Byford Equipment on behalf of CCA to fabricate and install the five storage tanks.
GEA Engineering’s General Manager Operations, Andrew Fillery, said stainless steel was an important specification as the tanks had to cope with the chemical and thermal rigours of cleaning processes.
“Stainless steel was chosen for process and hygienic reasons, and the vessels needed to withstand the process and cleaning conditions where mild caustic and acid CIP solutions were used,” said Fillery.
Strength and durability was key for the 200,000L capacity silos, which measured 4.7m in diameter by 14.5m high for the Moorabbin site and 5.5m in diameter by 10m high for the Thebarton plant.
ASSDA Sponsor Midway Metals supplied 27 tonnes of grade 304 stainless steel coil with a 2B finish in 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm and 4mm thicknesses. The coil widths were 1219mm and 1500mm.
With a team of five fabricators on the project, the tanks were welded together using a semi-automatic MIG welding process. The welds were then pickled to restore the chromium oxide layer and abstain from rusting.
Byford Equipment’s Project Manager Geoff Smallwood said coordinating the delivery of the tanks was a challenge, given the logistics of travelling through three states by road.
The delivery of the vessels was critical added Fillery, as there were specific installation windows to work within.
The storage tanks were delivered from Byford’s workshop in New South Wales to Moorabbin in March 2011. The two remaining tanks were delivered to Thebarton a month later for installation. It took one day and one crane to install each tank on site.
The connecting pipework was positioned on site, which was grade 304 polished tube in diameters ranging from 38mm to 150mm and purge welded prior to installation.
Images courtesy of Byford Equipment.
This article is featured in Australian Stainless magazine, issue 51.
