ABB to build e-houses worth $10 million

ABB has been awarded a $10m project for the electrical balance of plant (eBoP) of a new ammonium nitrate processing plant in the Burrup peninsula in Australia.

The new plant, once in operation, will be able to process 760 tons per day of wet ammonium nitrate, 760 tons of nitric acid and 915 tons of dry ammonium. The plant will be owned by Burrup Nitrates Pty Ltd, a company owned by Yara International ASA, a chemical multinational from Norway, Apache Corporation, leader in oil and gas production and operation, and Orica, a leading Australian company in mining services.

The construction of the plant has been awarded to Técnicas Reunidas, a leading company in engineering, design and construction of large turnkey projects. Técnicas Reunidas has turned to ABB for the design and construction of the eBoP that will consist of two e-houses, an innovative concept optimised by ABB which integrates all electrical and control equipment in a metallic building prefabricated according to the plant specifications. The e-houses will be tested prior to commissioning, in order to be able to guarantee the electrical safety of the plant and its operation in perfect conditions once installed. The e-houses, besides improving the safety and adaptability of the industrial plant, will also speed up the construction, since the eBoP can be developed while the plant is being erected.

The two Burrup e-houses, completely designed, built and tested by ABB, will include the high-voltage AC connection (HVAC), air-conditioning system, fire detection equipment and lighting system. The e-houses will shelter all the electrical equipment of the plant, medium and low-voltage switchgear, dry and oil transformers, capacitor bank, uninterrupted power supply and the motor drives necessary to improve the energy efficiency of the plant.