BHP Billiton Yabulu Nickel Refinery
- Project: Yabulu Nickel Refinery expansion & structural assessment
- Client: BHP Billiton
- Sector: Mining & resources
Delivered by Fraser Osborn, now Fraser-Lever, the work provided structural engineering across expansion and existing-asset requirements at the Yabulu Nickel Refinery, including approximately 420 multi-level pipe racks and structural audits to assess the condition and remaining life of refinery infrastructure.
Project overview
The refinery expansion program involved processing Ravensthorpe nickel concentrates and required significant additional infrastructure while accommodating existing process services.
Fraser-Lever’s work also extended beyond the expansion into assessment of existing refinery structures and development of recommendations for their ongoing management.
Fraser-Lever’s role
The scope included:
- Design of approximately 420 multi-level pipe racks
- Accommodation of process liquors
- Power and control cable infrastructure
- Integration with existing process piping and electrical services
- Structural audit of the nickel refinery
- Assessment of buildings
- Assessment of materials handling structures
- Assessment of major storage vessels, silos and tanks
- Remaining-life assessment
- Recommendations for remediation, maintenance or demolition
- Development of a multi-year remediation and maintenance program
The engineering challenge
The pipe-rack infrastructure needed to accommodate new process services associated with the expansion while also carrying and interfacing with existing process pipes, power and control cables.
The existing refinery infrastructure also required assessment to determine remaining structural life and appropriate future action.
Engineering in practice
Fraser-Lever combined new structural design with assessment of existing infrastructure.
The structural audit considered buildings, materials handling structures and major storage assets and was used to inform recommendations for remediation, maintenance or demolition.
Project outcomes
The engineering provided the structural framework for approximately 420 multi-level pipe racks associated with the $600 million expansion program.
The structural audits also established information to support a multi-year approach to remediation and maintenance of existing refinery assets.
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