24^th September – 5^th October 2012

Retrofit

Our retrofit department are currently working on building two control stands which will be replacing old mechanical governors,  our customer is updating equipment to enhance the efficiency of the running of the turbine. On completion of these two large units they will be shipped to an oil refinery in Africa.

We have previously carried out a similar project for a waste management company. Go to the case study for more information and to see pictures of the double Peak 150 stand we designed and built.

Service

Our service engineer Jon will be visiting the site of the UK’s longest established district heating company to install and commission two Woodward EG10P Governors and a solenoid stop valve and also to replace corroded wiring looms on their extraction steam turbine. Jon will be reconfiguring a Woodward 505E Control and setting up all equipment to customers specifications.

Overhaul

This month our overhaul department including technicians and test engineers have been busy overhauling a number of Woodward Governors that have been received from a UK based oil refinery.

The large quantity of critical plant operation units have all been stripped, inspected with all worn and damaged parts replaced. The units were then rebuilt and sprayed and are now currently in the process of being tested and set to specification to meet the customer’s criteria.

Our Governor Technician Chris has also been working on a main engine governor type PGA-EG, which has now been safely delivered back on board a premier cruise liner the MS Braemar. 

Marketing

Award-winning digital agency Cyber-Duck won two awards for the EGS website built earlier this year. They were awarded one silver W3 award in the Manufacturing in the General Websites Category and also scooped a 2012 WebAward in the outstanding website category.

Well done Cyber-Duck!

For more information, see the article posted on Cyber-Duck’s website.

Other EGS news

On Friday 5^th October our Sales and Marketing Manager April will be leaving EGS. We wish her all the best of luck in her future career.

30^th July – 10^th August 2012

Overhaul

Technician Steve is working on an urgent PG-EG58 overhaul for the RFA Wave Ruler vessel.

We are also overhauling two RE400 governors for MOD warships within our enabling contract. Technicians Mick and Chris have been working on the two Regulateurs Europa governors, with the first of the two freshly resprayed yesterday, decals and last minute adjustments were made this morning and it is currently being testing to specification.

Exchange build

Technician James last week completed two exchange build Woodward UG8 governors.

Retrofit and upgrades

Service Manager Steve is working alongside Applications Engineer Jon to complete the preliminary planning stages of a control upgrade for a vessel belonging to a UK based marine support services provider.

The existing equipment consists currently of the obsolete Woodward 701 control, which will be replaced with the Woodward 723 digital control.

This should be a two day project; Jon will meet the vessel in its location to mount and wire the 723 and configure all settings. He will then thoroughly test the new system, commission the engine by running it through its various speed ranges and temperatures to check the response.

July 2^nd – 13^th 2012

Mechanical Overhaul

EG2C

Engineers Ivor and Chris overhauled two EG2Cs for overhaul for the oil rig platform of an independent oil and gas company,

The EG2Cs are old electric governors with ballhead assembly back up. From our experience, these governors are prone to oil leakages and when hence tested as received and found to be the case. The governors were then stripped by Ivor and cleaned, the cases were sleeved and the worn piston bored.

We replaced the worn parts which in this case was the pilot valve bushing and the plunger, which was replaced on both the mechanical and electric side. Both power pistons replaced and all consumable parts.

Finally they were rebuilt and tested to specification.

Supply

We have supplied two UG10D governors to London based shipping company.

Conversion

PG-EG

This fortnight one of our customers, an offshore application specialist that had previously ordered a  PG-EG flush shaft governor, required a conversion in order that the terminal shaft was on the right hand side of the governor. With a twin shaft PG-EG this would have been much easier, however due to space limitation issues a conversion was necessary.

Exchange build

PSG

We have completed five unique build PSG models to be fitted to Caterpillar engines.

Electronics Overhaul

CPC-I

Service Manager Steve is currently working on a CPC-I sent in by a customer for overhaul and recalibration. This particular CPC has been subject to water contamination so will be fully examined for any damaged, any repair work will be carried out as necessary in addition to part replaced if required.

27^th August – 8^th September 2012

Training

We are very happy to be organising our latest training course, tailored to the needs of an international oil company. This will consist of a two day training course at the end of October and will cover usability and product lifecycle management of the governors and controls that make up our customer’s particular governing system.

Test Engineer and Training Coordinator Ivor is particularly looking forward to holding the training course and has been making preparations as necessary.

Upgrade

Applications Engineer Jon Chapman has been working with a UK energy company on an upgrade and retrofit project, which consisted of a complete overhaul of the turbine, and whilst the turbine was in retrofit period, the overhaul of two EG10Ps.

We also overhauled the turbine controls, which were reinstated at the turbine rebuild. Jon attended the customer site to commission the Woodward 505 turbine control. A new auto start up sequence was also commissioned as per the customer request in a bid to improve efficiency.

Service

This fortnight Service Engineer Karl and Service Manager Steve attended a vessel to fit, commission and complete sea trials for a governor overhaul for a ship repair company. Having overhauled the main engine loadsharing governors, basin trials have been completed and Applications Engineer Jon is due to attend the vessel for sea trials next Thursday.

Additionally, we overhauled the governing equipment for a Ministry of Defence vessel within a major multimillion pound 15 year life extension project.

Overhaul

We have recently completed the overhaul of four PGEs for the class 60 locomotive. These took place in the form of fixed price overhauls inclusive of all labour, kits and required spare part replacements.

Exchange build

We have completed an exchange build UG Actuator for UK based Construction Company, Technician James has also been working on an exchange build PGPL for our agent Ian Skins and Technician Chris has been working on the overhaul of a PGA for an offshore marine support vessel.

16^th – 27^th July 2012

In addition to our departmental overhaul and supply work we have had a number of events and changes taking place such as a company bike ride, BBQ, bowling and office redesign.

Cycling

Some of the EGS team (Wayne, April, Michelle, Sarah, Mick, Chris, James and Andy) completed a 25 mile bike ride around Colchester to raise money for St Helena Hospice and the PH Association. Despite the miserable weather; amber weather warning for rain, flooding and risk of storm, the team pulled through and made a fun day of the challenge.

We all stuck together as team, letting no man fall behind, and celebrated with a lunch at the end. Next time we’re planning to step up the mileage and complete a 50 mile course. Check out photos of the team which can be found to the right.

Olympic BBQ and Bowling

To celebrate the launch of the Olympics, this Friday (27^th) we will be seeking to tie up the day’s activities for 13.30 and holding a BBQ on site with good food, drink and music. BBQ expert Wayne will be manning the BBQ, and some of the team will then be heading off for a night of bowling.

Office Overhaul

You may have seen on our Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus pages that the EGS offices have undergone some serious work.

The senior management office has been restructured and redecorated. A separate office for accounts and quality control has been built for Holly and Marie. Finally the administration offices have been redesigned to a larger open plan office. This redesign work was part of a larger strategy to improve efficiency and communication. You will see to the right a picture of the last office to be overhauled in which the Overhaul and Spares departments can work more effectively in their appropriate teams.

Mechanical Overhaul

Whilst many changes and events have taken place, we haven’t let it affect our work, of course! Here are a few of the projects we have been working on:

Technician James is working on two Woodward UG8D exchange build governors. Pictures of components laid out can be found to the right.

GT power oil solenoid block

Service Manager Steve has been working on the overhaul of a GT power oil solenoid block for a power generation customer who has been experiencing some issues of the valves sticking.

Steve went about this project firstly by carefully sketching the solenoid assembly, taking notes and photographs. He stripped and cleaned all elements and then individually rebuilt each of the four valves.

He then preceded to the test the individual valves consisting of three solenoid valves and one double solenoid. The three individual solenoids form a two out of three voting trip system, of which Steve tested all possible combinations. He then tested the final valve, a double solenoid acting as an on/off trip in addition to testing the reassembled complete unit, which seemed to be operating perfectly to specification with no issues of sticking.

The customer will come to site Friday 27^th to witness these tests which will be performed again by Steve. All results will be explained to the customer who will check all is satisfactory in addition to having resolved the issue of sticking.

4th – 15th June 2012

Overhaul

This fortnight within the overhaul department Technicians Mick and Chris have overhauled two RE 1104A-3G governors for the RMAS Careful. These took place in the format of routine overhaul with all consumable and worn parts replaced as necessary.

See to the right a photo of one of the REs on test, one complete RE ready for decaling, in addition to a great photo of the RMAS Careful at Plymouth on the 25^th May in 1995. For more images and information, see the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service website here.

Upon completion of testing by technician Ivor, the REs will be sent  to be packed for shipping by Storeman Ian. Technicians Chris and Mick will then move onto the overhaul of two PG-PL governors.

This fortnight we have also supplied three UG40 actuators for Baku, Azerbaijan for a pipe laying vessel.

Retrofit

The work we are doing for British Sugar, which we showcased last fortnight, is almost complete. Technician Chris attended site to fit the CPC-II and complete all pipework. The original CPC bracket was in poor condition consisting of a plastic box which was worn and broken.

We designed and made a new bracket for the CPC-II which was moved back to make space for the new, much more robust bracket; far more suitable for the design.

Technicians Karl and Jon are onsite fitting the HMI and completing the final details; testing should take place Monday.

Events

This Friday the 15^th of June, some of the EGS team members will be baking sausage rolls and cakes to raise money for Cry in the Dark, a Colchester based charity that support children and families in Romania. For more information about Cry in the Dark, visit their website. We are also hoping to have a BBQ fundraising day later this summer.

May 21^st – June 1^st 2012

Retrofit

Following the completion of the sea trials mentioned in last fortnight’s post, the controls upgrade consisting of a 723 PLUS and PGA-EG triple redundant system per engine for an ocean research vessel, is fully complete. Chris, who accompanied engineers Jon and Karl to assist with the installation and in particular the new pipework, took some great photos during the project, which can be found to the right.

We are now working on the completion of the upgrade project for British Sugar. Friday the 25^th May, engineers Jon, Karl and Chris attended site to record all information and measurements necessary to install the new 505panel and CPC-II system.

The requirements for the new system, conveyed to us by British Sugar consist of the removal of the existing Woodwood 505 governor system and its associated hydraulic pipework and valves, and replacing with the new generation of Woodwood 505 PLUS and CPCII mounted in purpose built panel. We will also be fitting a HMI505 view for remote control and monitoring.

The requirements of the project are as follows: load control, back pressure control , isochronous frequency control, run up and control of set speed prior to synchronisation, control of set speed for purposes of back synchronisation, inlet pressure control at the turbine governor controller, control panel to house all equipment controller, Bentley 3500 system, TMR overspeed system, steam chest temperatures, critical interlocks, dual redundant power supplies, clean earthing bar, trip protection key switch, retransmission of signals for DCS and terminal for all spare cores, HMI to view all temperatures, pressures, levels, vibration levels and speed indication and integral electronic overspeed protection with TMR functionality.

Overhaul

We have completed the Ansaldo steam turbine actuator overhaul that was briefly mentioned in last fortnight’s post. This took place in the form of a routine overhaul, major parts were replaced including new servo rod and new piston arrangement. The main case was rebored, rebuilt and calibrated to customer specification. The finished product was collected by the customer.

We are also working on the overhaul of two 13 ft lb EGB proport dial governors for the MOD for which it was necessary to replace the pilot valve bushing due to wear. To the right you can see several photos of the EGB job at various stages of the overhaul process.

Agents – Essex Governor Services Middle East and Asia

There are several overhaul projects taking place within the department for our agent Ian Skins; supply of a TG13 new unit to Singapore, two PGD governors and an urgent UG10D.

Furthermore, in line with our new website and rebrand, our agent Ian is working with New Zealand based web design agency Mogul on the development of his new site. Much like ours, a completely fresh approach is necessary. Ian is working with developer Anna on a simple but easy-to-use layout; this is due for completion towards the end of next month.