Welcome to the MEL’s first midyear newsletter for 2019.
2019 is about maintaining quality service and increasing our presence as our client base grows. As part of that growth MEL has been awarded the ESA (Engineering Services Agreement) for the Oji Fibre Solutions – Tasman site.
New Staff
Welcome to our newest staff members adding great value to our Team.
Aiden Hui – Graduate Engineer
Owen Vaughan – Level 4 Engineer
Darryl Hodson – Construction Project Manager
Matt Gibson – Design Draughtsman
John Bazley – E&I Team Leader
Wendy Bazley – Project/Engineering Administrator
MEL is expanding its E&I capability to better serve our customer’s needs.
Projects
Oji Tasman and Kinleith annual shuts were busy times for MEL with involvement in shut planning and many projects. An example of one major project was the replacement of a section of Lime Kiln 2.
Shell Replacement Pier 3 Lime Kiln 2
A 40 tonne shell and tyre section at the cold end of a 3m diameter x 75m long lime kiln needed to be replaced due to excessive wear and development of shell cracking after a long service life. MEL were engaged to develop the scope of work, estimate project cost and then manage and supervise the project and contractors involved. The work was carried out on a 24/7 basis taking 5,000-man hours over 22 days to complete the replacement.

MEL – ASEL Fan and air handling division
A new design was engineered to improve the lifetime of a boiler ID fan impeller in a large industrial plant was developed. The lifetime of the fan was being shortened by a considerable amount of abrasive dust in the exhaust gases. In particular there was erosion damage to the highly stressed areas of the impeller blades, backplate and bolted-on hub assembly.
MEL was engaged to investigate impeller design options for improved operating life. Theoretical wear life calculations on an improved design indicated at least a 50% increase in operating life.
Features of the design included an aerodynamically designed impeller inlet, cutaway backplate, replaceable bolt-on blade and backplate wear plates, separate replaceable blade nose pieces and a welded hub assembly with wear liners. Wear liners made from abrasive resistant material (450 HBW) and the impeller was built to AS/NZS 1554.4: 2014.
Design: Heavy duty backward inclined plate bladed impeller
Impeller diameter: 1,567 mm
Speed: 1,050 rpm at design, 1500 rpm during grate cleaning
Impeller Tip Speed: 86.2 m/sec design, 123 m/sec during grate cleaning
Control: Variable speed drive (VSD)
Arrangement: Duct inlet
Materials: High strength steel + abrasion resistant wear liners
Design temperature: 230 C

More project information can be found on our website.
We are also regularly adding to our Mainstream Engineering Limited LinkedIn site and you can follow us at:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mainstream-engineering-ltd
Health and Safety
Hazardous Area Inspections for existing plant
Mainstream Engineering Limited has personnel qualified to carry out Hazardous Area Inspections for existing plant [National Certificate in Electrical Apparatus in Explosive Atmospheres (Level 4)].
NZQA unit standards covered:
26739 Demonstrate introductory underpinning knowledge of electrical apparatus in explosive atmospheres
26740 Demonstrate and apply intermediate underpinning knowledge of electrical apparatus in explosive atmospheres
17054 Report on the integrity of explosion-protected electrical apparatus in explosive atmospheres
17056 Install explosion-protected electrical apparatus and wiring systems in hazardous areas
17058 Maintain apparatus in explosive atmospheres
17059 Attend to breakdowns in explosive atmospheres
17073 Conduct testing of electrical apparatus in explosive atmospheres installations
17074 Conduct visual inspection of existing explosive atmospheres installations
Prequal assesses the health and safety systems and other management process used by Mainstream to provide the Client with an indication of Mainstream’s ability to perform work that is aligned with good practice and the Client’s own aspirations.
Mainstream had their Prequal Certification for Engineering (Professional Services Category 3) extended for a further 2 years in Jan 2019. MEL achieved an impressive overall score of 86% and an assessment rating of 5 stars. There was approximately 120 hours of work required by Mainstream personnel to achieve this.
Other
SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange)
SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) is a not for profit membership organisation for businesses committed to the continuous improvement of ethical performance within their supply chains.
Mainstream Engineering has been a member of SEDEX since 2012.