Pumps made in SA and engineered for optimum system performance

Standing among South Africa’s leading pump OEMs, APE Pumps and Mather+Platt have built a reputation for excellence based on product innovation spearheaded by dynamic people.

IMIESA speaks to John Montgomery, GM for APE Pumps and Mather+Platt, who introduces an up and coming mechanical engineer, Thorne Zurfluh, as a key member of the team.

expansion into key services that include customer service-level agreements (SLA) for operations and maintenance (O&M) on the group’s own installed systems. As a CIDB 8 ME contractor, the group is further expanding its EPC services to include turnkey design, fabrication and commissioning. This presents the need for qualified engineers as part of the group’s technical team capabilities.

“I previously worked for an EPC consulting company specialising in steel construction. It opened my eyes to the intricacies of project and programme management, and how important the details are in delivering the exact solution and seeing the final structure take shape,” says Zurfluh.

“That’s why I wanted to become a mechanical engineer: to experience raw metal translated into state-of-the-art functioning systems – in this case, pumps. This has always been my lifelong ambition, and now I get to do it on a daily basis. Allied to this, my structural steel EPC exposure adds valuable input on the group’s turnkey contracting projects. Pumps don’t function in insolation –they need integral installation to suit applicationspecific outcomes,” Zurfluh continues.

Computational fluid dynamics

APE Pumps is 71 years old in 2023, while Mather+Platt is much older, tracing its roots back to the First Industrial Revolution from the mid-18th century, where from the dawn of industrialisation pumps have been and remain the critical interface for every aspect of fluid transfer. Both OEM bands cater for fit-for-purpose applications in key sectors that include water and wastewater, firefighting, energy, mining, agriculture and the petrochemical sector. Over the years, APE Pumps and Mather+Platt (the group) have ensured their success through succession planning, market diversification and investment in specialist technologies to support business growth. (Both sister entities form part of the multinational WPIL Limited group of companies.)

Montgomery started his career with these two leading brands some 19 years ago as a qualified draftsman. Over the years, he has been exposed to every facet of the business – from design to production, stripping and assembly, and installation. It’s a complex field.

“Clearly, no pump engineer, specialist technician or artisan is born overnight. The baseline skills are essential, but the experiential, applied learning is what defines master craftsmen, engineers and project managers in all our interrelated disciplines. That’s why our business is dedicated to attracting and mentoring the best talent available, which is why we brought Thorne on board in June 2022 to be trained as one of our next-generation leaders. We like a two-way mentorship approach, where the ‘old’ teach the ‘young’ and vice versa, in modern versus tried and tested techniques,” explains Montgomery.

Evolving engineering focus

Currently studying his MBA at Wits Business School, Zurfluh joins the group at a time of unprecedented growth in production demand, as well as parallel

Group software investments include an industryleading CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation program that enables the engineering team to model and interrogate new pump designs, pump retrofits and upgrades, as well as the analysis of flow behaviour in a new or existing system.

“For example, we can simulate the implications of installing new pump manifolds and determine the envisaged pressure drop, the pipe sizing requirements, etc. We can also import other 3D design data to build the working digital model,” Zurfluh explains.

He also points out that adopting a holistic approach is important in achieving the best performance. For a bulk water transfer scheme, for example, any current or future network upgrade must factor in anticipated urban expansion and population growth. That means selection and optimisation are crucial in terms of return on investment and life-cycle costing.

Forecasting future plant upgrades is equally important to ensure that pump rooms have space for additional units at a later stage, or that treatment works can be expanded when they reach their current design capacity. In turn, strict condition monitoring and maintenance regimes are essential – solutions provided by the group’s O&M services.

For clients, the major benefit of signing an SLA is that O&M becomes an outsourced solution undertaken by an expert OEM with full parts inventory backup. That translates into fast turnaround on scheduled maintenance, and reduced breakdown times due to predictive and preventative maintenance. Routine on-site inspections are performed using advanced vibration and laser alignment tools for ongoing condition monitoring.

There’s also a growing demand from clients for energy-efficient designs. “The common request increasingly asked by utilities and municipalities is how they can lower electricity costs while still maintaining bulk demand targets. So, there’s a big shift in how we do the pump and electric motor selections since, over the years, the electricity cost to run a pump far outweighs its initial acquisition and commissioning cost,” says Zurfluh.

Manufacturing investments

At the heart of the process is the group’s manufacturing capabilities, with a core specialisation in custom builds and an ongoing investment in new machines and tooling to ensure that the fabrication lines can run on a 24-hour basis, when required. As Zurfluh explains, the objective is to make sure that the group is self-sufficient in terms of production and quality control.

Recent acquisitions include: an 8 m long lathe with a 1.4 m swing, specifically for circulating water pumps; a 12 t CNC horizontal boring machine; a 2.5 m vertical boring machine; and what is believed to be the second largest key slotter machine installed to date in South Africa, which will be used for large impeller fabrication.

Production focuses on new pump fabrication, upgrades and complete overhauls. The group also has a pump exchange programme for mission-critical sites, like power stations, where downtime must be reduced to a minimum.

Legacy drawings and the 3D world

Significantly, and as a long-established OEM, the group has retained the drawings for every single pump brand produced from inception. Traditionally, these have been 2D drawings with the measurements painstakingly replicated by hand by the group’s patternmakers to create the casting mould. Now, APE Pumps and Mather+Platt have taken this a step further by recently investing in the latest 3D scanning technology, which achieves a 0.02 dimensional accuracy. The same result or similar was being achieved with the manual method, but it took a lot longer.

If it’s a complete rebuild, the manufacturing team can now scan the original, make a pattern, manufacture it, scan the new one, and then compare the two in a digital overlay for verification. This scanning technology can also be used for quality control to check for key aspects like perpendicularity, concentricity, parallelism, and shaft runouts.

Conclusion

Montgomery adds: “As industry pioneers and early adopters of technology, we’ve stayed the course for seven decades in South Africa because we’ve remained relevant, with an unwavering commitment to customer service.

“Bringing new talent onboard, like Thorne, is part of our sustained investment in human capital – a forward-thinking approach that continues to position us as an OEM leader and specialist turnkey contractor in the fluid transfer field,” he concludes.

www.apepumps.co.za www.matherandplatt.com

Tunisia

PPP contract to improve wastewater management services

The Tunisian government and the World Bank signed a €113.6 million (R2.25 billion) loan agreement for funding to be allocated to the Tunisia Sanitation Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Support project. The primary objective of this initiative is to strengthen the capacity of the national sanitation public company (ONAS) to effectively manage PPP contracts related to the provision of sanitation services.

In many regions in Tunisia, access to water supply and sanitation services remains a challenge. Despite substantial progress in improving access to water supply and sanitation services, about 360 000 people are still using unimproved sanitation services. While most of the population without access to sewerage live in rural areas, the wastewater generated by more than 1.7 million urban residents remains untreated. In addition, 2020 records show that 24% of wastewater treatment plants managed by ONAS were operating beyond their hydraulic capacity.

To address these challenges, and with technical support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector, the Tunisian

Kenya

Menengai geothermal project breaks ground

Construction has begun on the US$108 million (R1.96 billion) Menengai Project through a partnership between Geothermal Development Company (GDC) and Globeleq. The project aims to deliver clean, reliable and affordable baseload power to the Kenyan national grid. GDC will monetise the available steam resources from the Menengai steam field and Globeleq will operate and maintain the power plant once it reaches commercial operations in 2025.

Menengai is a greenfield geothermal project and part of the first phase of the wider Menengai complex, which is the second large-scale geothermal field being developed in Kenya after Olkaria. Steam will be supplied to the project by GDC under a 25-year project implementation and steam supply agreement. Once the plant is operational, electricity will be sold to Kenya Power, the national distribution company, under a power purchase agreement for the same timeframe. Toyota Tsusho Corporation from Japan is the EPC contractor to the project. Fuji Electric will be manufacturing and supplying the steam turbine and generator.

Government has encouraged ONAS to develop PPPs through regional public service delegation contracts. These PPPs will help ONAS access quality and efficiency gains associated with private sector service delivery and compare the results with its operations.

“This project will support improved water supply and sanitation services for an estimated two million direct beneficiaries – more than 500 000 households – during the 10 years of implementation, with around half being women and girls. Given its long-term involvement in the sector and the continuous support provided to ONAS, since its creation in 1974, through eight World Bank-financed projects, the World Bank is well placed to support this initiative,” says Alexandre Arrobbio, country manager: Tunisia, World Bank.

Namibia

Citizens use emergency borehole water With dams running dry at a rapid rate, the City of Windhoek has resorted to supplementing the capital’s drinking water supply through its emergency borehole scheme. This follows after the city council decided to implement water restrictions as part of its drought response plan.

Certain neighbourhoods will only receive borehole water, while others will receive a mixture of borehole and municipal water. This water supply strategy will remain in place until noticeable inflows are received from the NamWater surface sources.

The total average level for Windhoek’s three water supply dams currently stands at 34.6%, in comparison to last season’s total level of 57.1% during the same period. According to NamWater’s latest dam bulletin, the Swakoppoort dam’s level is still at 67.2%. The level of the Von Bach Dam is at 22.8%, and the Omatako Dam is empty.

However, the city has said that it is important to note that the dam’s water is of poor quality and that the transfer system that links to Von Bach Dam is very unreliable, suffering from regular interruptions.

Mozambique

Eskom to receive 100 MW of electricity South Africa will receive 600 MW in the next six months and 1 000 MW in the long term through Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power plant.

The assistance from Mozambique is one of the measures that Eskom and the Ministry of Electricity have looked into following advisory and model programmes from other countries that have created stable power grids.

The Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Complex has been in operation since 1975 and comprises a variety of engineering infrastructures – the hydroelectric power station, the Songo converter substation, the HVDC and HVAC transmission lines, and the Matambo substation – enabling the production, transmission and commercialisation of energy.

Angola

Record loan for renewable energy

The Export-Import Bank of the United States of America (US Exim Bank) is providing a US$900 million (R16.38 billion) loan to the Angolan government to support the construction of two solar photovoltaic power plants with a combined capacity of 500 MWp.

The project to build these two solar farms is an initiative of the Angolan government in partnership with the American companies AfricaGlobal Schaffer and Sun Africa. Sun Africa has pledged to invest $1.5 billion (R27.3 billion) in Angola’s water and energy sectors from 2021. With an office already set up in the Angolan capital, Luanda, Sun Africa aims to make these investments in the southern provinces of Cunene, Namibe, Cuando Cubango and Huíla.

This Washington-based financial institution is also providing the financing as part of the China and Transformational Exports Program (CTEP) – a programme mandated by the US Congress to support American exporters facing competition from China.

In the solar market, Chinese companies are leading the way, supplying equipment throughout Africa and elsewhere in the world. The largest solar power plants in operation, or currently under construction, notably in South Africa and Egypt, are equipped by Chinese manufacturers.

This is the case of the Kom Ombo solar power plant, whose modules will be supplied by LONGi. When it comes to solar energy, China is by far the biggest market, with 174.8 GW of installed capacity in 2018, and supplies 60% to 70% of the world’s solar panels, according to the Futura-Sciences platform. Angola, which is banking on this energy to develop its economy, is 56% dependent on hydroelectricity (out of an installed capacity of 6 143 MW).