Today's Industrial Products and Solutions May 2019 | Page 20

products fulfill the requirements of relevant ASME and durability. Moreover, the company needed codes and standards. equipment that could run 24/7 with only two shut- downs a year. Eighty years ago, the roots of the complex pro- cessing vessel sector started with boiler manu- “At the time, the engineering team only provided facture and repair shops and has now grown to a fabricator with a data sheet of the requirements include off-the-shelf heat exchanger and pressure - things like how many gallons for the vessels, vessel fabricators and highly sophisticated and operating temperatures, pressure levels, and how credentialed design and manufacturing special- many nozzles were needed. From there, we need- ists. These specialist fabricators work with cus- ed the vendor to come up with the equipment tomers to design, engineer, manufacture, and test design and be able to build it to ASME Section VIII ASME Division I and II code vessels of every size, Div. 1 code,” says Linda Rutherford, a member material, and finish including rare and challenging of the Quality Control department at Tate & Lyle. alloys selected for their superior performance and “Because of the criticality of the equipment to our durability. manufacturing process, we needed equipment One of the challenges facing industries that re- that would not break down and stand the test of quire specialized complex processing vessels is time. And at this plant, we measure durability in the relatively small number of these specialist fab- decades.” ricators. There are still relatively few worldwide who provide the in-house design and engineering Based on a combination of capability, quality, expertise to craft vessels that can withstand high service and price criteria, the company partnered intensity environments. with Alabama-based Mitternight, a fabricator spe- cialist that holds certifications in ASME Div. I and II Manufacturing processes that involve high tem- stamps as well as a Chinese License for Pressure peratures and high pressures require equip- Vessels A2. Mitternight designed and engineered ment that is constructed from specialized alloys the plant’s original separators, heat exchangers, and that are custom-designed to the operator’s storage tanks, and pressure vessels. Given the unique needs. Far from off-the-shelf, clients often operating parameters, the company built the turn to a specialist fabricator to design custom equipment, which included fabricating pressure equipment based on a profile of their operating vessels more than 100 feet tall, using stainless, criteria. The fabricator then needs to create a specialized alloys. design, engineer, manufacture and test to ASME codes. Complexity Starts with Design & Engineering The work of fabricating a specialized processing Tate & Lyle is a global supplier of ingredients to vessel first begins with design and engineering. food and beverage markets. When constructing While an industrial customer will have a finished their plant in McIntosh, Alabama they required and approved drawing package for a standard custom-designed distillation columns, pressure heat exchanger, customers will also seek spe- vessels and heat exchangers. Because of high cialized expertise in designing and engineering operating temperatures and pressure, special- vessels for custom processes with unique code ized solutions were required for performance parameters. This requires the fabricator to create 18 TIPS Magazine • May 2019