Tuaspring plant utilizes Konecranes turbine cranes

THE largest desalination plant in South-East Asia, the Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Project in Singapore, is benefitting from the foresight of planners in installing new generation Konecranes turbine cranes featuring advanced control, reliability and safety features.

The plant – with a design capacity of 318,500 m3/day of desalinated water – is a high technology plant in many ways, including being one of the world’s largest ultrafiltration (UF) installations in a desalination plant.

Singapore’s Tuaspring integrated water and power plant

Tuaspring utilizes Hyflux’s proprietary Kristal® ultrafiltration (UF) membrane technology for the pre-treatment process and a double pass reverse osmosis (RO) process to produce water for domestic and industrial use. Hyflux’s membrane-based desalination solutions are engineered to help fast-growing cities and industries in water-scarce regions throughout the world to meet their water needs and develop a stable, sustainable water supply for the future.

Another innovation designed to enhance the operational efficiency and self-sufficiency of the plant is the integration into Tuaspring of a 411 MW on-site combined cycle gas turbine power plant.

The power plant – serviced by Konecranes 370/30/3.2 ton SM Spacemaker multi-hook cranes and a complementary 80/3.2 ton SMARTON® open winch crane set – comprises a 270 MW gas generator and a 130mW steam generator that recycles steam and gas separated from the main generator. This combination recycles production steam to generate further electricity not only to supply the desal plant’s needs, but also to provide additional power if required for the surrounding grid.

The Konecranes 370/20/3.2 .SM crane set, the highest capacity SM installation in South-East Asia

“A key to the crane components of the project was the ability to lift safely, efficiently and with very high reliability in a relatively confined space,” said Konecranes Industrial Cranes Product Specialist Mr Jonathan Lim. “The cranes have to be able to work together reliably and safety as soon as called upon, so as to minimise maintenance downtime when removing, installing and servicing the generators, which are absolutely vital to the plant.”

The Vice President, Tuaspring O&M (Power), Mr Kannan Kumar, says the precision operation of the crane “certainly assists us to carry out critical lift of machinery’s component during service jobs.”

“This feature benefits us when lifting critical components including, valve’s trim, turbine parts and all related piping for each successful overhaul.”

Konecranes was able to draw upon its decades of global experience in producing cranes for the power industry when it specified the features required for Tuaspring.

Both the SM and SMARTON crane sets incorporate sway control and shock load prevention, as well as Extended Speed Range (ESR) control to attain higher average hoist speeds and crane speed on the bridge with outstanding safety and operating efficiency without increasing motor size.

“The sway control is very useful for lifting jobs where there is very minimal space tolerance between machinery,” says Mr Kumar. “It helps to minimize the risk of collision between machines and allows lifting team members more control to ensure safe lifting in each instance.”

The cranes ‘extended speed range capability varies crane speed depending on the load. When a crane is moving a near-capacity load, the hoist speed and crane travel speed are limited. But once a near-capacity load is delivered to its destination, the hoist and crane speed can increase on the return cycle, delivering economies of time and energy use.

Mr Lim says extended speed range is valuable for high-duty applications that involve continuous cycles of near-capacity loads. Using inverter technology, ESR allows increased hoist speed in those instances when a crane lifts a light load – for instance, when a 370-ton crane such as at Tuaspring lifts only a fraction of this amount. ESR equipped cranes are also very energy efficient, because they only work to required levels and are not ‘over-performing’ to achieve the same results.

“The multi-hook lifting capacities on each crane set (the SM and SMARTON respectively) also mean operations staff always have the right crane or combination of cranes available for the job of manipulating workpieces that are heavy, delicate and not of a regular shape.”

With a heavy duty range of up to 600 tonnes, Duty Classification M3-M8, the Konecranes SM Spacemaker range of cranes combines excellent operating height and hook approaches with compact, lightweight construction. These characteristics produce substantial savings on building costs (up to 30% in many cases) and a maximum of work space around the job, says Konecranes.

Even in huge turbine halls such as at Tuaspring, space is precious and careful use of workspace is vital to safety

“At Tuaspring, in in Tuas district at the heart of Singapore’s industrial area, the cranes are operating in an environment where space efficiency is precious and where it is important to separate operations personnel and other tasks going on around them. SM cranes are ideal for this type of high capacity, but space-efficient, installation. They also offer savings on initial investment and on long-term maintenance costs as a result of the standardised production of components, which provides the basis for its advanced integration design. Integration means less parts, less opportunity for failure and less production time lost, which is also vital in this application.”

SMARTON® technology is equipped with TRUCONNECT® remote monitoring at Tuaspring

Complementing Tuaspring’s SM crane set is the plant’s SMARTON compact open-winch electric overhead crane type (above) that was developed specifically for assembly and maintenance use, where accurate and smooth movements are required. A powerful piece of equipment, this type of crane can lift anything from 6.3 tons to 250 tons with one trolley and up to 500 tons with two trolleys. Duty classes range from M3 to M8 (CMAA Class A-F).

“The real strength of the SMARTON crane as used at Tuaspring lies in its built-in lifting intelligence and maintenance optimization through  TRUCONNECT® remote monitoring.

TRUCONNECT allows operators to remotely monitor and diagnose crane performance, troubleshoot, and predict maintenance needs. Remote monitoring in real time gives you the ability to visualise your crane usage and operating data, helping you make decisions about maintenance investments and productivity. It also helps you to see how cranes are being used, and how that usage can be improved. This ongoing insight into crane performances is a huge asset to reliability and safety, as well as reducing the total cost-of ownership by optimizing maintenance and operational reliability,” says Mr Lim.

To optimize uptime and reliability at Tuaspring, Konecranes provides 24/7 technical and maintenance backup.

Mr Kumar says Konecranes technical support (T.S) respond to each enquiry professionally and promptly – “All ad hoc requests to attend to crane issues were responded to almost immediately in our experience, which ensures we are able to carry on with ongoing jobs at site.

“The Konecranes service team is willing to standby and work alongside our service team before and during critical lifts, when requested to ensure successful and safe lifting.

“Konecranes maintenance instructions are clear and easy to understand for our site technicians to follow. Moreover, Konecranes technicians are willing to give us guidance and answer queries during planned service jobs. Tuaspring power plant has performed two regulatory inspections without issues.

The working relationship with Konecranes is good. Konecranes provides all required support to ensure high reliability and availability of crane operation. In addition, our site technicians enjoy working alongside experienced Konecranes technician for the crane maintenance. As for the management, Konecranes has responded well to our enquiries to resolve unexpected issues.”

The Konecranes technology also equips Tuaspring well to adapt to future needs, says Mr Lim. Both the SM Crane set and the SMARTON ‘Crane with a brain’ module-based crane technology provide customers with great flexibility in adapting their equipment to the evolving needs of their operations.

The trolley of SMARTON crane is designed for compact integration into workplaces – like the SM, saving space in a busy environment – while the integrated structure minimizes approach dimensions, allows low headroom and helps to save space. Rope reeving provides a true vertical lift with two separate ropes and tilted rope sheaves resulting a longer lifetime.

The cranes can easily be updated with additional smart features, with SMARTON options including automated positioning, defined working areas, off-site maintenance monitoring or remote diagnostics, to meet changes in the customer’s business and process needs.

“Flexibility, modularity and a built-in capacity to upgrade are ongoing assets of smart crane design,” says Mr Lim. “While Tuaspring was optimally specified at the outset – and has performed outstandingly well in its first year of operation – the tasks there may evolve over time, so the cranes installed there are engineered to grow with the task.”