Wehran Energy
Landfill / Utilities
Wehran Energy recently contacted D&D to provide electrical, mechanical, and design services. They wanted to upgrade their flare that is situated on a town landfill where it extracts gases and converts them into electricity. Normally, control panels are installed indoors. In this case, the panel needed to be installed outdoors, in the middle of winter, in the snow. D&D began by setting up heated tents around the site.
The customer provided the flare panel for us to install. The problem now was that it was bulky and there was little room to fit it on the existing pad. We also couldn’t bring a crane into the area since the space was too tight. The piping for the new flare was done in a PVC-coated galvanized pipe and shielded coated wire, grounding, and bonding, all of which involve a very detailed process. Complicating matters was the weather: galvanized pipe is difficult enough to bend, let alone in the cold.
D&D also needed to install new control wiring for the remote starting of blowers, which were located over 500 feet away from the control center. We pulled in new control wires and added a series of current transformers and under-voltage protection. The most challenging aspect of the job was still ahead: the control panel came with new thermocouple, which are designed to be installed at various locations along the side of the flare itself, and reach as high as 70 feet. D&D brought in rental sky lifts to reach the last coupling.
The site was up and running by spring. D&D currently monitors this customer’s blowers and control panels on a yearly preventative maintenance program.
