TALIN POWER PLANT
CASE STUDY
Talin Power Plant
Mitigating Noise Components in Power Plants: Taiwan's Talin Power Plant Success Story
Summary
The Talin Power Plant, located in Kaohsiung Taiwan, is a 1,250-megawatt (MW) thermal power plant that runs on fuel oil and natural gas[1]. It falls under the category of ultra-supercritical units; which means pressures are at 4640 pounds per square inch and temperatures are of 1112-1130 degrees Fahrenheit (600-610 degrees Celsius), to produce generating efficiency of up to 43.3%[2]; more powerful than the usual power plants. Together with our partners from Australia and Japan, the expansion on Talin Power plant was successfully completed in 2013/2014.
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Our crucial role in this mammoth project was to mitigate noise emission and transforming noise levels from such an extraordinary power plant into a safe and acceptable level.
The Challenge
With an overall size of 7000mmW x 5000 mmH x 4000mmL (excluding flange), Talin Power Plant uses many equipment such as fans, pumps and compressors to function optimally. This, however, generates high levels of noise which, without proper control measures, could potentially cause irreversible health damage to its workers and cause noise pollution to its environment. KSM Group was tasked to design and build four noise silencers for the power plant to be delivered in two separate phases of two units each; all within a short span of one and a half months. Along with geographical and time differences, we dedicated ourselves to overcome these challenges; ensuring our solution fulfils the strictest international standards and tight delivery requirements.
The Strategy
To eliminate any errors in the design stage, we engaged our partners from Australia and Japan early on through daily (and often, nightly) conference calls. Our priority was to design the silencer dimensions within acceptable manufacturing tolerances of 2mm and keeping the flanges straight during fabrication. A prototype was quickly built and tested in our test lab according to the method under ISO 7235 standard. Our in-house software enabled swift and accurate noise calculation in the design, which was then demonstrated to the chief engineer from Japan. With the help of our experienced professional welders, we were able to control the speed of welding to minimize material deformation. Each flange was then checked rigorously for defects. If any flange was found to be not straight, a second reheating process was performed. The flanges were then clamped straight to maintain the position while it cools down. As part of our internal safety procedure, a dye penetration test was conducted on all welded parts whilst a 3rd party was engaged simultaneously to
conduct an MPI test. After which, a joint 3rd party inspection by SGS (representing Japanese client) and Fan Contractor’s QC personnel was arranged to perform quality checks on the silencer.
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Overcoming the final shipping challenge was made possible through our solid experience in exporting products globally. Due to its size, the silencers were shipped after conscientiously splitting them into its individual components to be re-assembled at site. They were then loaded into containers using a crane. A total of 7 containers were used to ship 2 units of silencers.
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The individual components were painstakingly labelled to ensure accuracy and to tally the packing list for site identification. This proper labelling is to facilitate identification of individual components at site by the general workers who has no prior knowledge of the product, but has to undertake the on-site installation work.
The Result
All noise silencers fulfilled the critical requirements and were delivered on time, albeit the given short lead time. Noise levels were effectively reduced to acceptable levels.
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With our own testing facility, in-house developed software and expertise, proved advantageous as we saved much cost and time on this project. Accurate readings and multiple tests were conducted expeditiously. We were able to build a prototype quickly and ran multiple safety tests so as not to compromise on safety, quality and performance.
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Our fully-equipped testing facility was also audited by a team of 4 auditors from Japan prior to the commencement of fabrication. The visit boosted their confidence in our readiness to support them in terms of facility, expertise, knowledge, skills and adherence to stringent standards. These engineers were subsequently present in person every fortnightly, to witness the progress of our work.
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Our ability to work seamlessly with our materials suppliers was indispensable in this project. Our prudent control of the materials through the JOT (Just On Time) material arrival is instrumental in ensuring zero wastage and maintaining a positive cash flow. Additionally, we leverage on our strong network of suppliers to value-add the project, especially in bending and sandblasting works, to meet the tight deadline, reducing wastages and keeping costs low.
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Our strong experience in handling global markets lends us the know-how in exporting the silencers, navigating shipping challenges and meeting critical deadlines. This prevented delays and any cost and time losses related to shipping and exporting procedures.
Our people; understanding the need to excel, often go beyond and above to serve at their best capacity. Our partners trust us to deliver and exceed expectations every time.