When AES bought the Masinloc Power Plant in the
Philippines the company was determined to prepare its
business for the future, and part of this effort was a turnkey
project to overhaul the two existing Siwertell ship unloaders
at the plant. This project started in 2008 and is now
complete.
“The owner now has two high-performing Siwertell
unloaders, upgraded to the latest Siwertell design,” says
Cargotec supervisor, Stefan Lundqvist, who has been stationed
in the Philippines during the project, and has worked closely
alongside colleagues in Sweden and Thailand. “Basic training
for maintenance personnel and operational training for the
operator was also provided. The training, in combination with
the two newly renovated Siwertell unloaders, has meant that
the time taken by the plant to unload a Panamax-size ship has
been cut from 12 days to little over three days.
“Much work has been done: all of the conveyers have been
replaced and the latest screw design, with a long life
expectancy, has been delivered. Also, all the old gears on the
horizontal arm, vertical arm and feeder system have been
replaced with new ones. Hydraulic cylinders have been
upgraded to the new design with heavily polished stainless
steel to prevent corrosion.”
“To achieve a cost-efficient operation for many years to
come, the electrical system also had to be renovated such as
replacement of the PLC system, updated software, new HMIsystem
and new radio system. In the final phase, the safety of
the machines was improved by prominent safety labels and by
providing updated manuals”.
Leon Ballard at AES says that the company is very satisfied
with the renovation work carried out by Cargotec: from the
two emergency repairs that initially got unloader ‘B’ into
operation, to the final overhaul work to get both unloaders
into their original design condition.