A steam upgrade touches engineering, valves, fabrication, pipework, controls and commissioning. Run it as five contracts and every gap between them becomes your problem. Run it turnkey and it becomes ours. We take responsibility for your steam project from design through to commissioning and handover, with our own engineers doing the design and vetted mechanical contractors doing the installation under our management.
Turnkey steam installation and project management
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What we offer
Engineering and design
Site survey, duty measurement, system design, equipment sizing, P&IDs, general arrangements and specification, done by our own steam engineers.
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Product supply
Valves, traps, reducing stations, heat exchangers, pumps, meters and instruments from our local inventory and from manufacturers in Europe, America and Asia.
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Package fabrication
Hot water, flash steam recovery and condensate pump skids built and pressure tested before they reach your site.
Pipework and installation
Steam and condensate pipework, welding, insulation, electrical connection and the siting of packages, carried out by our vetted mechanical installation partners and managed by us.
Commissioning and handover
System testing, set-point tuning, performance verification against the design, operator training, as-built drawings, documentation and compliance certificates.
Who does what on a turnkey project?
One contract, one point of contact and one party responsible for the result. You deal with us. We deal with the trades, the suppliers and the schedule.
| Stage | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Engineering and design | Energy Specialties engineers |
| Product supply | Energy Specialties |
| Package fabrication and testing | Energy Specialties |
| Pipework, welding, insulation and electrical connection | Vetted mechanical installation partners, managed by Energy Specialties |
| Commissioning and operator training | Energy Specialties |
| Handover documentation and compliance certificates | Energy Specialties |
Why not manage the trades yourself?
Plenty of plants do, and it works when there is a steam engineer on staff with the time to run the job. Without that, the usual failure is not any one trade doing poor work. It is the gaps: a reducing station sized by one party and installed by another with no separator, a heat exchanger that arrives before anyone has designed its condensate drainage, a skid that does not fit through the door. Each party did what they were asked. Nobody owned the system.
Turnkey delivery closes those gaps because the people who designed the system are the ones commissioning it, and the same people managed everything in between. It also frees your maintenance team to run the plant instead of running a project.
Steam pipework is not general plumbing. Pressure piping, welding and vessel installation have their own standards, certifications and inspection requirements. We work with a network of mechanical installation partners across Australia who are experienced in steam, hold the required certifications and work to our standards and our drawings.
What projects do we deliver?
| Project type | Typical scope | Example |
|---|---|---|
| New steam systems | Design and installation of a complete steam and condensate system for a new plant or line | Distribution, reducing stations, heat transfer, condensate return and metering designed as one system |
| System upgrades | Replacing ageing or undersized equipment and pipework in a working plant | EC Throsby: 25 instantaneous gas units replaced by one 60,000 litre per hour heat exchange unit |
| Energy efficiency retrofits | Heat recovery, flash steam recovery, insulation, metering and controls to cut fuel use | Teys Wagga: flash steam recovery skid and vapour condenser recovering about 3.3 GJ per hour |
| Condensate recovery | Return pipework, receivers, pumping stations and flash recovery | Designed from a trap survey and metering, built as a condensate pump skid or bespoke system |
| Package installation | Siting, connection and commissioning of hot water, flash steam and condensate skids | Kellogg's: shell and tube hot water package with full instrumentation, fitted into a limited space |
| Shutdown work | Pre-fabricated changeovers planned around a shutdown window | Reducing station, heat exchanger or trap station replacements prefabricated off site |
Industries we work in
- Meat processing and abattoirs. Our deepest experience: rendering, cooking, sterilising and plant hot water on sites that run around the clock.
- Food and beverage. Cereal, dairy, brewing and processing plants where production cannot stop for a project.
- Healthcare and hospitals. Sterilisation and hot water where compliance documentation matters.
- Timber and paper. Drying and process steam at scale.
- OEM manufacturers. Steam and condensate installations integrated with the equipment builder's own machines.
Results from the plants we work with
- Teys Wagga. A turnkey design, build and install to recover the rendering plant's waste heat. The Teys Wagga flash steam project has cut thermal energy per head of cattle processed by more than 30%.
- Kellogg's. A turnkey hot water package, designed, built and commissioned to fix temperature control and reliability. The client reports a 30% improvement in equipment life from the Kellogg's hot water system.
- EC Throsby and Hilltop Meats. Engaged to review the plant's hot water requirements and then design, build, supply, install and commission the replacement. The EC Throsby hot water upgrade delivers 60,000 litres per hour and hot water to plant is now guaranteed under any production condition, where stoppages had been costing thousands of dollars a minute.
- Fletcher International Exports reported several million dollars in savings across their improvements and upgrades, with an ROI on most projects of less than 12 months.
- Cowra Meat Processors reported a 40% reduction in gas usage following the upgrades we designed and implemented.
How we work
- Scope and design. We start with a site survey or a steam system audit through our steam consultancy and system design service, agree the scope, and issue the design, drawings and a fixed proposal.
- Procurement and fabrication. Valves and traps from our steam, condensate and water valving range, exchangers from our heat exchanger packages range, and skids built as standard and bespoke packages. Everything that can be built and tested off site is.
- Installation. Our installation partners carry out the pipework and mechanical work to our drawings, with our engineers on site at the points that matter. Work is planned around your production and, where needed, your shutdown window.
- Commissioning and handover. We test the system, tune set-points, verify performance against the design and train your operators. You receive as-built drawings, documentation and compliance certificates. Where steam and water metering is part of the scope, you also get the before and after numbers that show the saving.
Related reading
- Case study: flash steam recovery at Teys Wagga
- Case study: hot water system optimisation at Kellogg's
- Case study: hot water production upgrade at EC Throsby
- Condensate return systems: why sending hot water back is the easiest steam saving you are missing
- Optimum steam distribution: getting dry steam to the point of use at the right pressure
Frequently asked questions
Why choose a turnkey contract over managing the trades myself?
A steam upgrade involves engineers, valve suppliers, fabricators, pipework welders and controls technicians. With separate contracts, the gaps between them are yours to manage and nobody owns the system as a whole. With a turnkey contract, we own the outcome, the design and the commissioning are done by the same people, and your maintenance team stays on the plant.
Can you work within our planned shutdown window?
Yes. We plan shutdown work in detail and prefabricate as much as possible off site, so the time on the plant is spent connecting and commissioning rather than building. We agree the critical path with your production team before the shutdown starts.
Are your installation partners licensed for high pressure steam work?
Yes. Fabrication and pipework are carried out by mechanical contractors experienced in steam and holding the required pressure welding certifications, and compliance documentation is supplied at handover.
Do you only install equipment you supply?
Our turnkey projects normally include supply, because it lets us take responsibility for the whole system. We can also install and commission equipment you already own where it fits the design.
What do we receive at handover?
As-built drawings and P&IDs, operation and maintenance documentation, compliance certificates for pressure equipment and pipework, and operator training. Where metering is in scope, you also receive the measured performance against the design.
How do you keep disruption to production low?
By measuring and designing first, fabricating off site, planning tie-ins around your production schedule and shutdown windows, and commissioning with your operators present so the system is understood from day one.
Discuss your installation project with us
Tell us what you are trying to fix or build and we will scope it. Call +61 493 272 864, email sales@energyspecialties.com.au, or use the contact form.
Discuss your project