involved in commenting on the technical proposals, contract conditions and draft specifications prepared by the consulting engineers for the desalter and on the prequalification of prospective tenderers.
10.62 Proposals were advanced towards the end of the year for recruitment and training of staff for the Operation Sub-Division, which will be responsible for maintenance and shift operation of the 40 million gallons per day desalter.
Experimental Plant
10.63 The 50,000 gallons per day experimental multi-stage flash evaporators operated continuously throughout the year except for relatively short periods during which the plant was shut down due to breakdown, failure of the electricity supply or as a result of storm damage. Overall operation time as a proportion of the maximum achievable was 85%. There were in addition three scheduled shutdowns during which extensive internal examination was undertaken including photography of the plant condition. A selection of condenser tubes was removed during the second scheduled shutdown and sent for examination and report by a specialist British manufacturer. Apart from relatively severe calcium sulphate scaling which occurred on two occasions (one of which resulted from an instrument defect) due to operation at an excessively high brine concentration, experience to date has brought to light no unusual corrosion or scaling problem, although the need for a high standard of supervision to ensure satisfactory performance and avoidance of corrosion damage has been amply demonstrated.
40 million gallons per day desalter
10.64 Consulting engineers were engaged in August 1971 to undertake the Preliminary Report, Design and Contract Stages for a 20 million gallons per day desalting plant, funds for which were provided in April 1971. Additional funds for enlargement of the plant to 40 million gallons per day with some provision for extension to 60 million gallons per day were approved in January 1972 and the agreement with the consulting engineers subsequently revised. Most of the reports for the main plant, site formation and marine works were completed and contract documents drafted by the end of the year.
10.65 Applications for prequalification from a total of sixty-three prospective plant manufacturers were processed. These included eight
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