November, 2021

IWC’s latest natural draft cooling tower refurbishment project at the Sasol Secunda Plant.

IWC recently completed Tower B on the eastern side of the Sasol Secunda plant and have just commenced with the online refurbishment work on Tower A.

“Tower B was the most challenging project executed by IWC to date as it was affected by the National Lockdown in March 2020. Having to keep employees motivated and focused after returning to work in June 2020, was a very interesting and insightful journey. We are immensely proud of the team” says Kamo Moloi, Project Manager at IWC. Kamo manages the project at Secunda and has been on site for the last 2 years.

The project included removal and replacement of all the splash grids/trays in the tower while 75% of the tower was operational. We also completed civil repairs consisting of reinstating the condition of the concrete beams and columns inside the tower. This refurbishment extends the operating life of the cooling tower by another 25 plus years as well as improving efficiencies.

“The one aspect that stands out about this project, is the impeccable safety performance of the team. The team of approximately 150 workers, worked over 385 000 man-hours and completed the project without any lost time or recordable case” says Kamo. “The strong bond and teamwork displayed, ensured the project was completed successfully.”

“Our latest project, Tower A, is also on the eastern side of the Sasol Secunda plant. Tower A’s scope will be very similar to Tower B but will be more challenging due to interfacing with the outside shell repair works on the tower.”

“The IWC team looks forward to another exciting project and aims to deliver yet another successful project. The achievements to date really strengthen IWC’s drive to be the service provider of choice when it comes to cooling towers.” noted Kamo.