SEMF PROVIDE HYDRAULIC & FIRE SERVICES DESIGN FOR CSL’S NEW PRIVIGEN FACILITY
The proposed facility is built to provide additional production capacity for CSL‘s Privigen product, which is currently manufactured at the Bern facility in Switzerland.
The facility is designed with an initial capacity of 3.7ML PEQ with the ability to increase the capacity to 7.4ML PEQ with minimal investment and disruption to operation.
The proposed facility is built as an extension to the east side of the existing Process Building as an independent building, and the existing BMW Fractionation plant to operate independently without shutdown dependencies. The proposed facility is designed strictly in accordance with the Bern model and consists of three floor levels.
SEMF is responsible for the full fire and hydraulic services design including wet, dry fire protection and detection system, sanitary and plumbing system, rainwater collection and reticulation, stormwater syphonic system, and process waste.
The project also involved full design of external fire and hydraulic services infrastructure upgrade, including ring main diversion for fire sprinkler, hydrant, natural gas, domestic cold water, process water, and sewer system.
The facility is designed such that it could be extended towards the eastern side of the site. All external infrastructures have been designed to cater for the future requirements.
DANGEROUS GOODS AUDITS
Storage and handling of dangerous goods is an important issue for industry.
Many industries do not have sufficient time, skills or resources to efficiently manage storage and handling of dangerous goods and are therefore not fully aware of the associated legal requirements.
SEMF’s Carly Harington has been carrying out Dangerous Goods Audits (AS1940 – Hydrocarbons, and others) at a number of mining and commercial / industrial facilities in Australia, including at a number of remote areas and overseas. These audits are extremely detailed and comprehensive to comply with the requirements of the relevant Australian Standard on a clause-by-clause basis. SEMF often supplement the audit with the expertise of SEMF engineering staff, who provide assessments of ancillary equipment, visual integrity and suitability.
The audits provide a detailed report which includes compliance assessment, recommendations and a prioritised action list for the client to use as a ready-reference to facilitate compliance.
To ensure projects are delivered to provide the best possible results for our Clients we take great pride in understanding Clients needs and priorities.
Audits are tailored to suit the project requirements on an individual basis and in some cases information collection has been through secondment.
NSW FOOD & BEVERAGE TEAM EXPANDS
The NSW food and beverage team recently expanded with the addition of two process engineers to assist in covering the growing workload as the team continues to successfully win tenders.
The food & beverage team is part of the Industrial & Process division of SEMF and services the clients in the Dairy, Brewery, Carbonated and Non-carbonated Beverage, Confectionery, FMCG, Frozen, Petcare and Pharmaceutical Industries.
The SEMF Food and Beverage team recently visited the Auspack trade show, seeing many new and familiar faces. The trade show presented an excellent opportunity to network and see some demonstrations as part of our latest FMCG project, providing design solutions for the installation of new high speed packaging lines in various locations.
The Food & Beverage team is preparing for another bumper year as they help SEMF clients optimize their manufacturing process to improve productivity. Productivity improvements has been flagged by the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Manufacturing as the top priority for the industry in Australia if manufacturing is to survive and surpass pre GFC levels.
For more details contact Ray Sassine – ray.sassine@semf.com.au
DRUMMOND ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2012
It was with great pleasure that the SEMF Board awarded the Drummond Achievement award for 2012 to Bob Dunbabin, Principal Structural Engineer based at SEMF, Hobart.
The Drummond Achievement Award is presented annually to an SEMF employee for outstanding achievement against 2 criteria (Commercial Awareness plus one of; Technical Ability, Project Management & Environment/Community Awareness). All nominations were of a very high calibre and showed great depth of commitment and expertise across all criteria. The Board would personally thank and congratulate all those nominees for their enthusiasm and achievements throughout 2012.
In summary, Bob’s outstanding achievements included;
- High revenue generation, utilisation, and efficiency
- Strong customer satisfaction
- Strong project management & profitability of a broad range of projects
- Mentoring to a number of junior/graduate structural engineers
- Encouraging the use of 3D modelling & innovation on complex projects
- Working across multiple offices and projects, often spending significant time away from home base
The award presentation was held on Bryan Drummonds yacht (Gypsy Rover) berthed on the southern end of Constitution dock (in Hobart) where staff members attended to join in celebrating Bob’s success.
SEMF DELIVER NEW JUMBO LAMINATING LINE
SEMF have completed the installation of two new production lines for the manufacture and processing of laminated glass and mirror products at Viridian Glass’ Dandenong site.
Viridian is Australia’s number one glass provider with a long history of glass making. The new Jumbo laminating line is capable of production the largest laminated sheets of glass in Australia.
After completing an initial cost feasibility study for a number of options, SEMF was given approval to proceed with the preferred option in late 2011. SEMF’s multidisciplinary team were engaged to assist with the delivery of the multifaceted project utilising their capabilities in Civil, Structural, Electrical and Environmental Engineering and Project Management.
The project, undertaken and completed in an ongoing plant operating environment, took 15 months to complete and involved a wide range of tasks including;
- Removal and demolition of 3 existing production lines and associated building infrastructure
- Refurbishment of an existing raw materials shed (1460m²) to be used for glass storage
- Modification to an existing precast wall and civil construction of a pit to host a new 60T autoclave
- Upgrade of mechanical services to meet the demands of the new autoclave, including installation of a new cooling tower and air receiver
- Installation of the new 110m long laminating line which can handle glass sizes up to 3210 x 6000mm
- Installation of a new 55m long repack and splitting line
- Installation of a new 2000kVA transformer, HV cabling and main supply MCC
- Installation of a new two level whiteroom, which is temperature and humidity controlled for product storage
- Upgrade of an existing coolroom to increase storage capacity
TECHNICAL STUDY TOUR OF EUROPEAN AQUACULTURE RESEARCH FACILITIES
SEMF has been appointed Principal Design Consultant for the proposed new Experimental Aquaculture Facility to be built by the University of Tasmania, south of Hobart.
The modern facility will provide new specialist research capabilities to support the growth and sustainability of aquaculture in Tasmania. The new facility will deliver practical solutions for the commercial and environmental sustainability of aquaculture in Australia, and will feature climate research capabilities for the seafood sector.
To facilitate the understanding of world’s best practice in aquaculture research facilities, key SEMF project staff and UTas staff attended a technical tour of similar facilities in Norway and Denmark in May 2013.
The objectives of the study tour were to:
- Understand how established facilities operate, to ensure functional and practical design layouts and solutions;
- Gauge quality and build ability of existing facilities;
- Learn from others, on what has worked well, what they have needed to improve, or are proposing to improve, and what would have been done differently if they were to start again;
- Develop further knowledge on current technical requirements, equipment suppliers, and Recirculation systems.
The technical tour provided a range of invaluable benefits to the participants that will assist with the delivery of the Experimental Aquaculture Facility. These benefits included:
- Exposure to various facility layouts and acquisition of knowledge of improvements that could be made to those layouts;
- Appreciation of the various levels of construction quality achievable; from the low to the high end of the spectrum;
- Appreciation of different methods of tank installation; i.e. in-ground and above-ground methods.
- Insight into what has worked well, and what has not, at the various facilities; and
- Establishment of relationships with representatives at the various research facilities and suppliers visited. Many of whom will be available to provide follow up advice.
SEMF serves up state-of-the-art commercial kitchen for the Royal Hobart Hospital
The Royal Hobart Hospital is Tasmania’s premier public healthcare facility and the primary teaching hospital for the University of Tasmania’s Faculty of Health Sciences. The hospital is also home to a bustling food production centre, dishing up over one million meals per year to hospital residents along with sites such as Oakdale Lodge, Flagstaff Gully Childcare, Queen Victoria Home and the Wilfred Lopes Centre. However, outdated equipment and old infrastructure was limiting the kitchen’s production capacity.
The Royal Hobart Hospital engaged SEMF to revamp the existing facilities and capitalise on the kitchen’s potential. Led by Michael Barber and Klaus Stange, SEMF managed the design, documentation and contract administration for various elements of the site, from hydraulic, gas and fire, to structural and civil. The firm also designed and installed new freezers, water heating and cooling systems, CCTV and back-up power facilities and increased energy efficiency by conducting a high voltage systems upgrade.
The design team also dramatically improved the kitchen’s air quality, despite challenges such as tight space restriction, air pollutants and strict ventilation requirements.
