Photo: (Left to right) Bruce MacDonald (Crane Lift Specialist Consultant), Joe Soto (Construction Manager), Frank Soto (Engineering Design Manager), William Sinclair (BSL Engineering Manager), Anthony Negro (BSL Sinter Plant Asset Manager)

On October 13, 2014, an 80m stack was engulfed by a fire requiring forty fire-fighters and eight fire appliances to bring the blaze under control – a fire which caused the stack to totally collapse. An investigation is still pending to determine the root cause of the blaze.

The fire dominated the news for days and created much community angst. Production at BlueScope was halted as an alternative stack was re-instated and tested to ensure the emissions were safe, however this stack was limiting production and a new stack needed to be built as soon as humanly possible.

SOTO Consulting Engineers were called in to play a key role in helping BlueScope Steel get a new stack up and running. SOTO Consulting Engineers performed extensive advanced analysis and engineering to ensure BlueScope an incredible six week turnaround for design, manufacture and installation of a new replacement stack.

Frank Soto, Managing Director said “All parties moved fast and worked as a unit. Immediately after the fire, BlueScope mobilised an internal team to manage the reconstruction of the stack with the view to being operational as quickly as possible without compromising safety or quality”. “It is no understatement that BlueScope wanted manufacturing of the stack as fast as we could draw it….BlueScope had most fabricators in Wollongong working flat chat!”

“We were able to complete a huge amount of work in record time thanks to our long relationship with local fabricators and BlueScope! Being locally based was also a plus. We have every required discipline in house and covered every aspect of the engineering design for the complete job.” said Mr Soto.

In the six week period, SOTO Consulting investigated the site, performed in-depth advanced analysis and oversaw production and installation of a new stack – one that is much heavier and fabricated in steel for greater fire resistance and general durability.

The new stack was about nine times heavier than the fibreglass unit it replaced (taking it from 22 tonne to 190 tonne). This was particularly challenging and required the support structure to be completely re-engineered to cope with the increased load requirements.

The engineers’ initial estimate indicated 200 tonnes of steel were required. BlueScope undertook a special production run of steel plate XLerplate WR350 to ensure the quantity necessary. To reduce risk, XLerplate WR350 was chosen for its corrosion resistance, compliance to Australian Standards and quality.

The innovative design used bolted segment steel sections. This modular construction ensured it would be easily transported.

“Using advanced analysis and structural engineering calculations we fast tracked the engineering process to take on the new loads and delivered a result to BlueScope in fantastic time frames”.

Projected effects of wind, weather, pressures and flow, loads, the CFD’s for heat and plume, construction methodologies and every other aspect of the new stack and how it would work in situ, were explored so we could achieve an alignment within 1mm to the outlet duct of the existing plant configuration. Stress analysis was given special attention from the most skilled and experienced SOTO engineers.

“Our modelling and analysis practices are possibly the most advanced in Australia, giving us and BlueScope extra confidence at the design reviews with their engineers and to do everything so fast”, stated Mr Soto.

“This project alliance was undeniably a SOTO/ BlueScope team effort through and through. We ensured a lot of our specialised engineers and technical people were on site, often around the clock, to optimise the level of collaboration needed to bring things together in such a short period of time”.

BlueScope’s Mr Anthony Negro spearheaded manufacture of the stack, working closely with each fabricator to ensure quality issues and logistical problems were eliminated while at all times keeping abreast of engineering details being produced by the design engineers and remaining attentive to the construction activities.

The team at BlueScope combined experienced engineers and plant operations personnel, all aiming to assist with the construction activities or aid those brought in to oversee the engineering and design.

“This type of project, with its tight timeframes, often leads to innovative thinking and new ways of delivering solutions. It proves to me that in BlueScope, there still lies great potential in its people to ensure the future will remain positive,” said Mr Soto.

“This project just goes to show that when local industries collaborate we can deliver something astonishing. The new stack, constructed with the support of local companies, delivered an innovative result – an Australian made steel product built with best practice for Australian industry. The work done here is an example of world class Australian engineering.”