Atlas Copco Compressors has made a significant investment in its Hemel Hempstead CustomDesign engineering facility, which should open up bespoke plant designs.
According to CustomDesign UK manager Paul Frost the workshop is now playing a major role in supplying engineered compressor solutions across the globe – from modular 'plug and play' packages to custom-built units on single base frames.
Examples include: a skid-mounted assembly of compressor, blowers and booster for a hydrocracker plant in Russia; a containerised multiple compressor installation operating in the desert environment of the Gulf; a compressor and dryer package for a methanol plant in Trinidad; and a compressor, dryer, pumps and cooler installation on the northern Pacific shore.
The 800m2 workshop operates two 10-tonne overhead cranes and one five-tonne unit with a sunken load bay for road transportation. It also includes a cooling water supply and a 1,000 kVA generator for workshop testing.
Frost says that the extended facility fields a team of over 30 people covering design, project management, procurement, assembly, test inspection and subcontracting.
He also says that, to maintain the high level of skills required, the division operates a graduate engineer training scheme. "It is important to introduce more youth into the team in order to secure continuity of the way we do things and develop in-house experience for the long-term benefit of the company and the satisfaction of its customers," he says.
