Kharafi National Magazine

APR 2014 ISSUE 33
Kharafi National Industrial City
kharafi national 1
APRIL 2014
Contents
06
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
08
ABJ - FABRICATING DESALINATION PLANTS
EQUIPMENT DIVISION
24
TRIUMPH AT HABSHAN
13
EQUIPMENT DIVISION ROUND-UP
CONSTRUCTION
28
BOROUGE PETROCHEMICAL PLANT
OPERATIONS NEWS
17
22
AL SAAD & AL WATHBA REVISITED
ABJ
INSTANT ACCESS
THE BIG 5 KUWAIT
L&D
30
AL-SHAHEED PARK
18
STUDENTS SUMMER TRAINING AT KN
HSE
HOW DO WE MEASURE HSE PERFORMANCE?
33
EVENTS
KN SPONSORS THE 9TH ANNUAL KUWAIT
PROJECTS CONFERENCE
TENDERING
20
PROPOSALS DEPARTMENT REVAMPED
2 kharafi national
Corporate
IPD
EPC
Construction
FM-I&C
FM-IS
Fabrication
Trading
Instant Access
General
APRIL 2014
MESSAGE FROM
THE CHAIRMAN & CEO
As we welcome the new year of 2014, now is a good
time to reflect on the past, present and future of Kharafi
National. Some of you will remember that I am not
new to Kharafi National, and although this dynamic
organization has grown steadily over the years, it has
always remained true to its core values, vision, mission
and goals. This has been chiefly due to the dedication,
commitment and skills of its most valued asset, its
staff. Kharafi National has always prided itself on the
excellent capabilities of its employees and senior
managers who have propelled it into becoming one of
the leading and most respected companies in the region
over the last forty years.
Early in November 2013, I was asked by the owners of
Kharafi National to step in as the Chairman and CEO
of the company. The owners of Kharafi National, a
privately-held company, have always agreed upon and
executed a successful, proven method of management
which has resulted in the superior reputation Kharafi
National has earned among its peers and the regional
business community over the years. In order to retain
this focus and with a further aim of achieving the goals
Kharafi National has set for itself, my vision for the
future of Kharafi National will be to maintain the values
and beliefs that have been instrumental in the growth
of the company.
Transmission is Kharafi National’s corporate newsletter. It contains news and
stories about your company. Its purpose is to inform and stimulate.
Kharafi National prides itself on the culture of excellence it brings to every project it
undertakes and Transmission is expected to reflect this culture.
Here in Corporate Communications, we would very much appreciate your comments
on the content, design and layout of your corporate newsletter.
Please send your constructive criticisms to:
Paul D Kennedy, Editor
[email protected]
or
Nada Abbas, Unit Head (Branding Unit)
[email protected]
Therefore, despite the recent management changes,
the vision and mission of Kharafi National to fulfill its
goals going forward into the future remains unchanged.
With the support of every member of staff, from manual
labourers to senior managers, working together for
the realization of their common goals, the company
will achieve more successes and set more standards of
excellence in the years to come.
With the help of the company’s directors, I am presently
in the process of establishing a lean and effective,
functional management to oversee the daily operations
of the company. I will communicate with you frequently
and provide updates on the measures being adopted for
the smooth running of the organization.
I also wish to take this opportunity to
sincerely thank our owners, senior
managers, and manual and non-manual
employees for their dedicated service
to Kharafi National over the last four
decades that has transformed Kharafi
National from its humble beginnings
into a well known and respected industry
name in the region and beyond today.
I look forward to working closely with
each and every one of you to ensure
the continued success and growth of
Kharafi National in the years to come.
Wishing us all a happy and prosperous
2014 and many more years to come.
Riyadh Al Saleh
Chairman & Chief Executive
Officer
kharafi national 5
APRIL 2014
WElcome
Riyadh Al Saleh
Kharafi National
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Engineer Riyadh Ibrahim Abdulla Al-Saleh BSc is the new Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Kharafi National, one of the world’s largest
pan-Arabian Infrastructure Project Developers, Contractors and Facilities
Management Service Providers. The company has over 35,000 employees.
Eng Al-Saleh earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from
the West Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology – in Lahore, in
1974.
With more than 38 years of experience in the oil sector in Kuwait, Eng Saleh
started his career in 1975 at Kuwait National Petroleum Company. After
three years as a Junior Mechanical Engineer in the Project Department of
the Design Division and one year in the Pump and Compressors Engineering
Department, he was appointed in 1981 as Deputy Superintendent of the
Engineering & Maintenance Department and Superintendent in 1982. He
quickly rose through the ranks, becoming GS E&M Department later in
1982, Manager Loss Prevention Department for KNPC refineries (1983-87)
and Refinery Manager for Shuaiba Refinery (1987-95) until he was finally
appointed as Deputy Managing Director Support Services (1995-99). He
retired from KNPC in 1999.
Eng Saleh joined ABJ Engineering & Construction Company in 1999 as
Deputy Chairman and Managing Director (1999-2003). Thereafter he
became Managing Director of Kuwait Catalyst Company from 2003 until
to 2005 and President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Horizon Center
Consultant and Training (since 2000). In 2009 he was appointed as Chairman
and Managing Director of Petroleum Coke Industries Company.
Eng Riyadh Al-Saleh is strongly committed to civil society in Kuwait; he
is member of the Kuwait Engineering Association, Kuwait Graduates
association, Institute of Mechanical Engineers, National Fire Protection
Association, American Management Association, American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, National Safety Management Society, Society for
Petroleum Engineers, and the British Institute of Managers.
He is also a member of the Planetary Society, the National Geographic
Society, the Hawalli Education Area Fathers’ Board, and the Khalida Bint
Al-Asswad School Fathers’ Board.
From 1981 to 1995, Riyadh Al-Saleh was a recipient of KNPC Inventive
Rewards. He received the KNPC and State of Kuwait Reward 1990-1991 for
work during the Iraqi occupation. He has been a member of the boards
of directors of many industrial companies in Kuwait and has sat on many
executive working committees.
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APRIL 2014
ipd
Projects
AL SAAD & AL WATHBA REVISITED
ISTP1, Kharafi National’s two BOOT sewage
treatment plants in the UAE, began operations
just over two years ago. The client is extremely
pleased with how the plants are being operated
and maintained and, so far, has send KN two
letters of appreciation.
Al-Saad sewage treatment plant
(STP) is located on the Abu Dhabi
side of Al Ain, and Al-Wathba STP
is near Al-Mafraq which is about
40km from Abu Dhabi city centre.
The operations of the two plants are
integrated, hence they are known
collectively as ISTP1.
The client is the Abu Dhabi Water
& Electricity Authority which, in
December 2007, awarded the two
build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT)
projects to a consortium made up
of Biwater PLC, the provider of
advanced eco-friendly technology,
and Emirates Utilities Company
Holding, a partnership between Al
Qudra Holding PJSC of Abu Dhabi
and Utilities Development Company
Holding of Kuwait, a sister company
of KN.
KN was the main EPC contractor
for the construction of the two
STPs, which it is now operating and
maintaining. The original 25-year
contract has another 20 years to run.
Both plants use a traditional
treatment method of primary,
secondary and tertiary treatment but
with anaerobic digestion and biogas
co-generation facilities. Both STPs
clean the effluent to a very high level
of purity. ie a maximum level of 2.0
nephelometric turbidity units (NTUs).
They are also very eco-friendly.
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At Al-Wathba the incoming untreated water is often outside the expected
specifications. In particular, the influent is highly saline at times. In addition,
there are regular shock loadings, ie sudden surges in the water coming in for
treatment.
These issues have made controlling the plant processes at Al-Wathba STP quite
challenging. The KN team on site, however, have proved highly resourceful and
have used their experiences to improve immensely their capabilities in dealing
with unexpectedly difficult situations.
In addition, operating and maintaining ISTP1 has given KN a great deal of
first-time experience in handling highly sophisticated systems, such as the
anaerobic digestion and biogas co-generation system and the onsite generation
of sodium chloride. These learning experiences have added immensely to KN’s
capabilities ... helping to boost its reputation as one of the most eco-friendly
construction and facility management firms in the Middle East.
The biogas produced by the
anaerobic digestion process can be
used instead of fossil fuels as energy
because it is rich in methane and
carbon dioxide. Indeed, this biogas is
used to generate 27% of the energy
needed to operate the plants, thus
reducing their carbon footprints.
In addition, the dried nutrient-rich
solids remaining after digestion and
dewatering can be sold as fertiliser.
Both plants have to use chlorine for
disinfection purposes. But handling
and transporting chlorine gas is
dangerous because it is toxic and
can react with flammable materials.
So the plants use simple sodium
chloride (table salt) to produce the
chlorine they need and this reduces
the hazards to humans and the
environment.
Al-Saad STP accepted its first inflow
of sewage on the 11th April 2011
and began to output treated sewage
effluent (TSE) two days later. The
plant began operating at 90% of its
full capacity of 80,000 cubic metres
(cu m) per day in January 2012 and
has been operating at 100% capacity
since February 2013. The operation
of this plant is running very smoothly.
TSE began flowing in Al-Wathba in
August 2011. Since April 2012 this
STP has been operating at two-thirds
of its total capacity of 300,000cu m a
day.
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APRIL 2014
CONSTRUCTION
Projects
TRIUMPH AT HABSHAN
The successful construction of a fifth gas processing plant at Habshan in Abu
Dhabi has consolidated KN’s position as a major player in the oil and gas
sector in the Middle East.
..... Project Director Giuseppe Contini explain
The new plant is part of GASCO’s
integrated gas development (IGD)
project which began in 2007.
GASCO (Abu Dhabi Gas Industries)
is a majority-owned subsidiary of
ADNOC (the state-owned Abu Dhabi
National Oil Company) in the UAE.
The IGD has expanded Abu Dhabi’s
gas production facilities through
the creation of new processing units
at the HAP offshore platform, Das
Island, Habshan and Ruwais, and by
revamping existing facilities. It has
also consolidated production into a
single integrated scheme of offshore
and onshore facilities.
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When fully operational the integrated
facilities will have doubled Abu
Dhabi’s offshore production of high
pressure gas to 2 billion cubic feet
a day (bcfpd), expanded its output
of crude oil from 1.4 to 1.8 million
barrels a day and satisfied the
emirate’s demand for domestic gas.
The additional high-pressure gas
is coming from the offshore Umm
Shaif field and Khuff reservoirs. It
is processed in the ADMA-OPCO
facilities at Umm Shaif and then sent
to the ADGAS facilities at Das Island,
where it is conditioned. After that it
is sent to Habshan through a new 30
inch offshore pipeline for associated
gases, which can handle 1 bcfpd.
At Habshan, the gases are further
processed for optimum lean gas
production. This gas is then sent to
Abu Dhabi for sale, while the naturalgas liquids (NGL) go to the GASCO
facilities at Ruwais for further
fractionation in a fourth newly-built
NGL processing train.
GASCO split the IGD project into
four EPC (engineering, procurement
and construction) packages, all on a
lump-sum turnkey basis.
The largest of the EPC projects,
a contract for the construction of
Habshan 5, the new gas processing
plant, was awarded to a consortium
of Tecnimont of Italy and JGC of
Japan. This EPC contract was split,
with Tecnimont of Italy working on
the process plant, while JGC of Japan
developed the associated utilities.
Kharafi National was awarded the construction of process plant which covered
the civil works, the installation of steel structures and equipment, the fabrication
and erection of piping, electrical and instrumentation works, painting,
insulation, refractory installation, fireproofing, and pre-commissioning.
The Habshan-5 process plant is massive. It has 10 process units and an
interconnecting pipe rack spread over a site measuring approximately 800m
x 800m. The plant has the capacity to process 2,150mmscfd of feed gas and
deliver 900mmscfd of sales gas. The combined total capacity of the four
sulphur recovery units is 5,200tons per day, with a recovery efficiency of more
than 99%.
KN’s scope of work was impressive in both scale and complexity. In less
than three years, the company has constructed ... two trains for feed gas
compression ... one train for condensate stabilization ... four trains for gas
sweetening and dehydration (two each for rich and lean gas) ... two trains
for rich gas NGL recovery, and ... four sulphur recovery units and two tail gas
treating units designed for 99.9% plus sulphur recovery.
This construction work involved massive quantities of materials and products
... 230,000cu m of concrete ... 45,000 tons of steel structures ... 43,000 tons
of equipment ... 2,000,000 dia inch of piping ... 2,191km of electrical cables
... 2,178km of instrumentation cabling ... 379,000cu m of insulation works ...
380,000cu m of painting works, and 5,400 tons of refractory installation.
kharafi national 11
CONSTRUCTION
APRIL 2014
Projects
Project Brief:
Most of the prefabricated products required for Habshan 5, such as pipe spools and supports, were made by ABJ, KN’s
fabrication subsidiary, in state-of-the-art workshops expressly set-up for this purpose in Zone Three of the Industrial
City of Abu Dhabi. KN also erected temporary facilities on a 400,000sq m area near Habshan 5 with the capacity to
fabricate 400 inch dia piping a day, prepare and paint 400sq m of piping per day, as well as scaffolding and insulation
units.
Client: GASCO - Abu Dhabi Gas Industries
Main Contractor: Consortium of Italy’s Tecnimont and Japan’s JGC
Construction: Kharafi National
Project Number: 2031
Scope of Work: Construction of a gas processing plant
Start: 1st May 2010
Finish: Q3 2013
Employees (at peak): 13,100 manual + non-manual
This massive size of the Habshan-5 construction project necessitated the deployment of more than 13,100 employees.
To accommodate this large workforce, KN built its own residential camp on a piece of desert land at Habshan. The camp
had all the facilities needed to create a home-away-from home, such as cabins, a kitchen and mess halls, recreation
rooms and a gymnasium, as well as indoor and outdoor sports facilities. It also included banking facilities, internet
facilities, and media rooms. This ‘village’ had its own independent water supply and sewage treatment plants and other
utilities, and catered for all categories of employees, including management, supervisory staff and labourers.
In order to maintain employee relations at a high standard, KN organized indoor and outdoor tournaments in sports and
games in which all nationalities could participate.
Such a large labour force containing diverse languages and cultures might be considered unwieldy and difficult to
coordinate on a single project. But everyone at Habshan-5 project demonstrated a high level of team work and
commitment together with a strong sense of ownership, dedication and perseverance in executing the company’s
largest-ever construction project.
This exemplary team-work, along with the strict application of safety and quality standards, has enabled the project
to achieve, as of the 15th September 2013, 69.21 million man-hours without a lost-time incident out of a total of 86.46
million man-hours worked.
Testing and pre-commissioning were completed in two phases. The first phase, which began at the end of May 2012,
was completed in Jan-2013 and the second phase, begun at the end of August 2012, was completed in June 2013. Plant
Commissioning works by the Joint Venture is in progress, in parallel with the residual piping insulation works of the
valve boxes by KN.
Winning the single largest construction contract the company has ever undertaken is a testament to the success of
Kharafi National’s business diversification programme. Now the successful completion of Habshan-5 has raised KN’s
profile in the oil and gas market several fold.
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kharafi national 13
CONSTRUCTION
APRIL 2014
Ops News
OPS NEWS
Borouge petrochemical plant:
the emirate’s process industries.
Secondly, KN will be positioned to
obtain a major share of the market
in long-term maintenance projects
in upstream and downstream
process plants in the oil and gas and
petrochemical sectors.
A new contract at Borouge in the UAE is positioning KN for long-term
maintenance contracts in the oil and gas and petrochemical sectors. Gulf
National Insulation Systems (GNIS) has been praised for its contribution
to Habshan-5. The winning of the Shuaiba North power plant contract has
enhanced KN’s reputation in major O&M projects. Meanwhile, the development
of al-Shaheed Park is placing KN in the van of the green movement in Kuwait
and the Gulf.
Prospective clients include Borouge,
Takreer (oil refining), GASCO
(liquefied gas products), ADNOC
(oil production), FERTIL (granular
urea and ammonia fertilizers),
ADCO (onshore oil operations),
ADMA-OPCO (off-shore oil and gas
production), and ZADCO (onshore oil
production), among many others.
INDUSTRIAL SERVICES
& MAINTENANCE
KN has been awarded a four-year contract to operate and maintain heavy
vehicles and equipment at the Borouge petrochemical plant at Ruwais in the
UAE. The client is the Abu Dhabi Polymers Company Ltd (aka Borouge).
Fire-fighting
services:
Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)
and Borealis of Austria, which provides solutions in chemicals and plastics.
Established in 1998, the JV consists of two separate companies: Abu Dhabi
Polymers Co Ltd (Borouge) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, which produces petrochemicals,
and Borouge Pte Ltd in Singapore which undertakes marketing and sales.
Kharafi National recently signed
a five-year contract to deliver
maintenance and other services
for KOC’s fire-fighting systems
in north and west Kuwait ... the
first time KN has been awarded
this contract.
Borouge produces polyethylene and polypropylene for use in infrastructure
(pipe systems, power and communication cables), automotive and advanced
packaging applications, food protection, energy conservation, healthcare and
waste management. Located about 250km west of Abu Dhabi City, it was the
first petrochemical facility in the Middle East.
The plant initially started production in 2001 with an output capacity of 450,000
tons a year. By 2005 annual capacity had been increased to 600,000 tons. In
2010 this was tripled to 2 million tons. After further increases, total production
capacity is expected to reach 4.5 million tons a year in 2014, when KN’s work
will begin.
The operations and maintenance of the heavy vehicles and equipment at this
state-of-the-art petrochemical production plant ... the largest integrated
single-site polyolefins plant in the world ... started on the 1st January 2014 and
finish at the end of December 2017. KN expects to have 135 employees working
on the project.
This project will deliver significant benefits for Kharafi National. Firstly, KN
will be able to create a permanent base for industrial maintenance operations
in Abu Dhabi, thus enabling it to service specialized shutdown projects in
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Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is
the government-owned entity
responsible for all exploration
activities and the extraction of
hydrocarbons within the State
of Kuwait.
KN’s scope of work on this
added-value services contract
is to execute all maintenance
works for KOC’s fire-fighting
equipment, accessories and
buildings in north and west
Kuwait.
The work on this contract,
for which KN will have 125
employees on site, will begin on
the 1st January 2014 and end on
the 31st December 2018.
kharafi national 15
APRIL 2014
GNIS
EPC
Ops News
Ops News
GNIS: Insulation Works at Habshan
FM-IS Sewage EPC-MEP Services
Works & Water Ministry of Education HQ
Networks
Facilities Management (Industrial
Services-Sewage Works & Water
Network) recently secured four new
contracts ... one from the Ministry
of Public Works (MPW), two from
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and one
from the Public Authority for Housing
Welfare (PAHW) in Kuwait.
The first contract is for the O&M of
Rikka Sewage Treatment Plant. This
is a repeat contract with MPW which
KN had executed a few years ago.
This contract will run for three years.
The second contract is a new
contract with KOC for operational
assistance at Abdaliyah pumping
station in West Kuwait. KN’s scope
of work on this three-year contract
includes operating and monitoring
the pumping station facilities and
the associated systems connected to
the station, as well as providing the
necessary personnel and vehicles.
Work began on the 15th September
2013.
Excellent execution of the insulation
works by Gulf National Insulation
Systems (GNIS) made a significant
contribution to KN’s successful
completion of the Habshan-5 project
in Abu Dhabi.
This facility contains the most
technologically advanced machines
in the Middle East, ie specialised
computer-controlled
equipment
supplied by Maschinenbau Biland in
Switzerland.
Established as a joint venture
with Riva & Mariani of Italy,
GNIS is a subsidiary of KN. The
company develops techniques and
applications for the cost-effective
preservation of thermal energy
during manufacturing processes.
GNIS carried out four main types of
insulation works in Habshan 5 ... hot
(thermal) insulation, cold insulation,
acoustic insulation, and personnel
protection. In order to manufacture
huge amounts of prefabricated
cladding, while ensuring a very
high quality standard, KN-GNIS
established a complete workshop,
equipped with advanced machinery,
on site at Habshan.
GNIS has a 5500sq m purpose-built
manufacturing plant within the KN
Mina Abdullah complex in Kuwait.
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Overall, 380,330sq m of piping
and equipments and 21,000 valve
and flange boxes were insulated
at Habshan-5 ... approximately
10,000sq m a week without any
fall-off in quality during the peak
of the project, when GNIS had 900
employees on site.
The Habshan-5 process plant is the
largest construction project ever
undertaken by KN in the oil and gas
sector. The exemplary performance
in terms of safety, quality and output
displayed by the GNIS personnel in
the execution of the insulation works
made a substantial contribution to
its completion.
The third contract is also a new
contract with the PAHW for the
construction,
completion
and
maintenance of a surface layer of
asphalt and associated works at
Saad Al Abdullah Town in Kuwait.
It is similar to the three ongoing
contracts KN has with the MPW for
asphalt works in Jahra Governorate.
This contract will run for two years.
The fourth contract is a four-year
repeat contract with KOC for road
maintenance works in Ahmadi. For
more than the last 10 years KN has
been executing the same works ...
a reflection of the high regard KOC
has for KN’s capabilities and timely
execution.
Kharafi National is executing the electro-mechanical works for the prestigious
new head-quarters of the Ministry of Education in Kuwait.
The new head-quarters of the Ministry of Education (MOE) are being constructed
in the government zone in South Surra, which affords rapid access to Kuwait’s
motorways and the rest of the country.
As can be seen from our photos, the design is truly stunning … two curved
gracefully-shaped glass and metal structures resting on a two-story base of
clad stone. Both structures will lean outwards from the stone base, giving the
impression that they are floating, like dhows on the sea, as well as providing
protection from the sun. The heart of the design will be a 10-storey grand
atrium that will be created by roofing over the interior volume between the two
structures.
Special attention has been paid to the spatial sequences in the interior. As
a visitor moves from large public areas into smaller areas such as private
offices, the scale will step from larger to smaller as if it were following the four
elements of learning … curiosity, exploration, discovery and revelation.
The new HQ is huge. It will have a gross area of 135,000sq m and house
more than 3,600 MOE employees. There will be 20 staircases, 21 elevators,
17 escalators, 15 bridges, and three underground parking levels of more than
100,000sq m which will have room for 1,640 cars. It is being built by MAK
(Mohamed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi & Sons) on behalf of the Ministry of Public
Works. KN is carrying out all the mechanical, electrical and plumbing works
on behalf of MAK.
KN’s scope of work covers the supply, installation, testing, commissioning
and certification of the electro-mechanical and security systems for the whole
building, including a C4 shelter for 100 people in the basement. The scope also
covers the water features, the electro-mechanical works for the guard houses,
and the external works related to all the mechanical and electrical works,
including the irrigation pumps.
MAK began construction work on the site in June 2010, while KN began the
MEP works in October 2010. KN will have 650 employees on site at the peak
and is working to an expected completion date in early February 2015. KN then
will be operating and maintaining the building during the two-year warranty
period that will follow. Nearly 40 percent of the work has been done already.
kharafi national 17
APRIL 2014
FM INDUSTRIAL SERVICES
FM I&C
Ops News
Ops News
Facilities Maintenance - Industrial Services (Electrical,
Instrument & Control and Communications)
Kharafi National has begun working
on a seven-year contract for the
operation and maintenance of
Shuaiba North co-generation plant
on behalf of the Ministry of Electricity
& Water in Kuwait.
Shuaiba North O&M
Shuaiba
North
co-generation
plant is located in the Shuaiba
Industrial Area, about 40km south
of Kuwait City. A co-generation
plant combines power generation
and water distillation. Shuaiba
North is KN’s first seven year O&M
contract in Kuwait in which it has full
responsibility for a power plant.
The power plant at Shuaiba North has
three General Electric gas turbines
and one Toshiba steam turbine for a
total installed capacity of 900MW. It
began operating in 2009.
The distillation plant has been in
operation since 2011. It uses three
MSF-type distillation units from Fisia
Italimpianti, and has a total capacity
of 45 million imperial gallons (MIG)
a day. MSF stands for the ‘multistage flash’ process used to turn
sea-water in potable water and the
evaporators used in the distillation
units were manufactured by ABJ.
The scope of work for the cogeneration
plant
covers
the
operation and maintenance of three
gas turbines of 225MW each, one
steam turbine of 225MW, three heat
recovery steam generators, and three
MSF distillation units of 15 MIG a day
each, as well as all the remaining
plant and auxiliary equipment. The
JV partners will carry out inspections
18 kharafi national
With the design development,
construction and maintenance of AlShaheed Park in Dasman, Kuwait,
Kharafi National has asserted itself
as a leader in the greening of the
country.
area. KN partnered with The
Associated Engineering Partnership
for the superb reconversion of the
park. Each area will have a variety
of gardens, water features and
buildings.
Al-Shaheed Park is located between
the line where the Old Wall ran
around the City of Kuwait and the
First Ring Road. It was originally
developed nearly half a century ago
to form a ‘barrier’ between the old
City (long rebuilt) and what were
then the new suburbs. It is now being
redesigned and reconstructed, on
behalf of the Amiri Diwan, as part of
the ongoing project to green Kuwait.
The ‘soft’ landscape (gardens etc)
will include vegetation that is not
common in Kuwait but which has
been developed to withstand the
harsh local climate. The design of
gardens and water features is being
undertaken by specialist landscape
and irrigation designers on behalf of
KN.
Kuwait has a harsh climate, poor
soil, low rainfall and scarce water
resources. The greening of Kuwait
refers to attempts, which began
in the mid-1980s, to combat the
arid desert by the mass planting of
vegetation that can endure the hot,
dry weather conditions.
The O&M of Shuaiba North is being
carried out by a joint venture (JV)
between Kharafi National and
TNB–REMACO of Malaysia. The
TNB REMACO-Kharafi National JV
has entered into long-term service
agreements with General Electric
for the maintenance of gas turbines.
Incorporated in 1995, TNB REMACO
is a fully-owned subsidiary of
Tenaga National Berhad (TNB) of
Malaysia. With assets of more than
US$ 23 billion, TNB is the largest
utility company in Malaysia. Its
core business is the generation,
transmission and distribution of
electricity. TNB has around 12,000
MW of installed capacity, comprising
conventional thermal, open and
combined cycle gas turbines, and
hydro plants.
Al-Shaheed Park
at the intervals recommended by the
manufacturers. They will also be
maintaining all electrical systems,
instruments and control systems.
Al-Shaheed Park is a belt of
greenery covering 235,500sq m.
Once its development is complete, it
will contain four distinct zones ... a
memorial area, a ceremonial zone,
a parking sector, and a museum
The park will contain six buildings
... an administration building, a
memorial, a museum, a guest
centre, a ceremonial gate, and an
underground car park. The buildings
will have green roofs.
A green roof is one that is covered
with vegetation. It consists of a
growth medium (eg, soil) planted
over a waterproofing membrane,
as well as a root barrier (to prevent
roots gaining access to the structure)
along with irrigation and drainage
systems. The green roofs are being
supplied by specialist green roof
system manufacturers.
KN’s scope of work covers the design
and construction of all civil and MEP
works. As well as constructing the
buildings, the firm will be carrying
out the internal finishing works and
renovating the existing pedestrian
tunnel. KN will also be undertaking
25,000sq m of hard landscaping
(roads, paths etc), and 162,000sq
m of soft landscaping including the
green roofs, gardens, water features
and a lake.
KN’s work on developing Al-Shaheed
Park began on the 7th April 2013 and
is due to be completed at the end
of May 2014. At the peak, KN will
have 400 employees working on the
project. As expected with KN, the
work is proceeding well on schedule.
Having started on the 19th June
2013, this project is expected to
finish on the 18th June 2020. It will
involve a total of 300 personnel.
Variation orders are likely to increase
the value of this contract. However
a more significant benefit for KN is
that the extensive experience KN
is getting will allow it to enhance
its TWI (technical work instruction)
procedures for the operation and
maintenance of power plants. The
company will thus be well placed
to bid for further O&M contracts as
well as for additions to the current
project.
kharafi national 19
APRIL 2014
HSE
Corporate
HOW DO WE MEASURE HSE
PERFORMANCE?
All KN HSE audits use the same format. This allows projects to be analyzed
against themselves (over a period of time) or against projects with similar risk
profiles (within KN or other companies). Audit findings are divided into five
major parameters as shown in Figure 2.
leading indicators. The cycle is
shown diagrammatically in Figure 4.
Figure 2: Three year HSE audit results, showing major trends
Figure 4: PDSA as an operational
definition of safety
PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) has been adopted as the basis for management
systems throughout the world. It is the basis for OHSAS and ISO standards. And
it is how Kharafi National ensures continual improvement in the company’s
HSE practices. But what is PDSA and how does it work?
PDSA (plan–do–study–act) is
a four-step management method
used for the control and continuous
improvement of processes and
product safety.
Carrying out tasks safely requires
you to take time to think about what
is required for safe working. In ‘plan’,
the first step in the PDSA cycle, you
have to decide how a work process
should be carried out to ensure safe
working. You then have to implement
the plan, ie carry out the particular
task in the manner that you have
decided will be safe. This is the ‘do’
or second step of the PDSA cycle. It
includes collecting data for analysis
and action in the next two steps.
The third part of the cycle is ‘study’,
ie
monitoring
outcomes
and
comparing them against your goal
of safe working. You can do this
by, for example, observing during
inspections, the timely completion
of actions and the reporting of near
misses.
In the fourth step ‘act’ you take
action to rectify any shortcomings in
the methods you are using to achieve
safety (see Figure 1). You do this by
analysing the differences between
your goal and the outcome discovered
in step three and then applying the
20 kharafi national
changes you need to improve the
likelihood the process will achieve
your goal of safe working.
PDCA is iterative. This means that
you have to keep repeating this
cycle. Using the PDCA cycle, HSE
professionals have learnt that
leading indicators are essential to
help predict and improve health and
safety procedures.
Figure 1: PDSA on the work process
with examples of leading indicators
Wisely chosen indicators allow
safety
performance
to
be
improved. However, even if all the
indicators were showing excellent
performances, you could have
missed one crucial indicator where
failure could lead to an accident.
This is where near misses, as
well as injuries and damage,
provide valuable information about
weaknesses in the HSE system.
Near misses describe incidents
where no property was damaged
and no personal injury sustained but
where, given a slight shift in time or
position, damage and/or injury could
have occurred easily.
The clear message delivered
by a near miss is that, despite
the avoidance of physical harm,
something undesirable happened,
and therefore something is unsafe.
Correctly understood, a near miss
can be a rich source of data for
learning and improvement.
As with all incidents up to and
including
fatalities,
you
can
learn from a near miss through
investigation and then take remedial
action to prevent the situation that
gave rise to the near miss from
reoccurring. In a sense the lagging
indicator generated by incidents
becomes a leading indicator for
prevention.
To judge how successful we are in
achieving safety during any period
of time, we must combine leading
and lagging indicators. An important
leading indicator with KN’s HSE
toolbox is HSE audits carried out on
all projects. These are designed to
confirm that regulations, processes
or rules are being followed.
Now matter how good you may feel about the effort you have put into creating
a safe workplace, the acid test is this: did anyone get injured?
As well as analysing near misses and undertaking HSE audits, data on injuries
and occupational illnesses such as, for example, LTIFR (lost time incident
frequency rate) and LDR (lost days rate) needs to be obtained. In future our
analysis at KN will also include TRIR (total recordable incident rate) or the
rates for DART (days away, restricted, or transferred).
Figure 3 shows Kharafi National’s current LTIFR, with 3-sigma process
behaviour limits calculated for a level of performance that appears to have
reached a stable level of about 0.08, with annual variation predicted to be
between 0.06 and 0.10.
Figure 3: Example of LTIFR to report safety performance
Using the PDSA cycle, KN learns
from both the process of creating
safety (via leading indicators) and the
result (via lagging indicators).
Leading indicators provide valuable
day-to-day information on how
precise we are in doing what we
say we should do, while lagging
indicators provide essential feedback
on how accurate we have been in
identifying the necessary safety
measures required.
However, we also continually revise
our judgment of the effectiveness of
our safety efforts by the successes
and failures we experience. Thus,
improving the information that we
gain from everyone in KN is crucial.
Therefore I am asking all of you to
please report accurately, timely and
openly.
Continual improvement is brought about through preventive action as measured
by leading indicators that optimize the performance of the safety system.
Accidents provide data from which judgments can be made about the
effectiveness of a preventive action. The knowledge gained from studying
accidents is the basis for action to improve the preventive measures and the
kharafi national 21
APRIL 2014
TENDERING
Corporate Developments
PROPOSALS DEPARTMENT
REVAMPED
Over the past year, the Proposals Department has undergone major
transformations, including the introduction of fresh personnel, a restructuring,
and new procedures. The changes have delivered a significant improvement
in KN’s bid success rate.
... Corporate Manager (Proposals Department) Chris Reynolds explains
Here are some of the developments
that have taken place in the last
year:
Experienced proposal managers
with strong technical and operational
backgrounds in the Power and
Water & Wastewater sectors have
been hired. These complement the
resources the department already
had in Construction (Oil & Gas) and
in Facilities Management.
The department has also launched
new Bid-v-No-Bid procedures for
EPC, Construction (O&G) and major
FM tenders that incorporate detailed
input from Business Development,
Contracts, Operations and Proposals.
This more analytical approach to
choosing the projects for bidding
places a much stronger emphasis on
KN’s ability to win ... no more bidding
just for the sake of bidding.
22 kharafi national
The department is also reassessing
its productivity factors / estimation
norms based on lessons learnt
from previous projects. This is an
important exercise to ensure that
the estimated costs, which are
based on these productivities, are
both achievable on site and are
competitive in the current market.
The Proposals Department is also
realigning its quality management
procedures to take account of the
new changes.
Significant benefits
One of the positive outcomes of the
initiatives the department has taken
is the improvement in KN’s bid
success rate.
Staff ‘silos’ have been dismantled and
have been replaced by a common,
single cost centred, multi-disciplined
estimation
pool,
comprising
estimators, proposal coordinators,
estimation manager, material takeoff personnel, document controllers
and administrators.
Proposals has begun using CCS
CANDY Estimation Software to
replace the former Excel-based
estimation system. This software
has introduced new levels of
accuracy, transparency, consistency
and efficiency into the bid process.
It
is
introducing
a
more
comprehensive approach to the
analysis and treatment of risk during
the proposals stage. This will not
only result in more accurate and
robust bids but will also, through the
handover of a detailed risk register,
assist Operations in considering
the issues that could become
problematic in the execution stage.
The introduction of a project-based
e-folder system, with protected
access rights, is facilitating greater
transparency, consistency, and ease
of monitoring, as well as a reduction
in the need for hard copies.
The department is now actively
participating in the new crossfunctional team initiative to enhance
interaction and transparency with
other departments. In addition,
the introduction of ‘sign-offs’ from
the operations, engineering, and
procurement
departments
are
ensuring a total buy-in to each
proposal from the managers of these
departments.
The Proposals Department has also
formed a comprehensive ‘lessonslearnt’ matrix. This captures all
the individual elements of previous
lessons-learnt exercises and is
contributing substantially to both the
build up of skills in tendering and to
the ability to maintain the expected
profits during execution.
Ongoing initiatives
The department also has several
ongoing actions designed to improve
the efficiency of the tendering
process.
During the first nine months of
2013, KN submitted 96 bids with a
total value of US$4.50 billion. These
include several budgetary offers, ie
non-binding offers that give a client
an idea as to how much a particular
project is likely to cost, which have
yet to be firmed up.
From the 46 results received, KN
has so far achieved 13 awards and
6 L1s (ie notifications that KN is the
lowest bidder on projects that are yet
to be awarded) totalling US$670m
in value. These figures represent a
direct win rate of 28% (on awards
only) and an overall bid success rate
of 41% (including the L1s).
In comparison to previous years, this
is an improvement in the order of
100%, which is good news indeed and
is hopefully the sign of things to come
as the Proposals Department seeks
to build upon its recent initiatives.
kharafi national 23
APRIL 2014
ABJ
Corporate Developments
ABJ - FABRICATING DESALINATION
PLANTS
ABJ is the only manufacturer in Kuwait, and one of the few in the region, of the
evaporators used in desalination plants. Today it is building on a reputation it
established nearly a decade ago in this specialised sector.
... K. Viswanathan, Operations Manager (Fabrication Services) explains
By removing salt and other minerals
from saline water, desalination
provides a source of fresh water that
does not depend on rainfall.
There are three main desalination
technologies: the multi-stage flash
process (MSF), the multi-effect
distillation process (MED), and
reverse osmosis (RO). MSF is the
most popular, producing more than
50% of the desalinated sea-water in
the world.
The MSF and MED technologies
are based on vacuum distillation,
ie the boiling of water at less than
atmospheric pressure. The lower
the atmospheric pressure, the lower
is the boiling point of water, so both
these technologies produce steam
at a lower temperature than normal.
This steam is then condensed as
fresh water.
In the MSF process, pre-heated
sea-water is evaporated repeatedly
(“flashed”) in a series of linked
chambers, each of which has a
progressively
lower
pressure,
allowing the water to continue
boiling (evaporating) as it flows from
chamber to chamber.
In the MED process sea-water is
heated within the chambers by
dripping onto a series of tubes filled
with steam. The steam that collects
is routed through the tubes in the
next stage where its heat is used to
keep the water boiling (at a lower
pressure and temperature).
The RO process is wholly different.
RO is based on applying pressure to
sea-water so that it passes through
a semi-permeable membrane which
does not allow the salt and minerals
in the water to pass. Thus potable
drinking water emerges on the low
pressure side of the membrane.
No matter what technology is used,
minerals are usually added to the
pure water at the end of the process
in order to give it a palatable taste.
All the desalination plants in Kuwait
use MSF technology. Initial costs are
very high due to the use of expensive
materials. For example, any parts
in contact with sea-water must be
made out of the special high-grade
duplex stainless steel or copper
nickel needed to withstand corrosion.
The heat exchanger tubes must also
be made out of copper nickel and/or
titanium.
In 2006 and 2007, ABJ fabricated
three evaporators on behalf of Fisia
Italimpianti, the leading supplier of
desalination plant in the Arabian Gulf
region. These evaporators are in use
in the Shuaiba North desalination
plant in Kuwait.
24 kharafi national
Together, the three evaporators
have a total production capacity of
200,000cu m of fresh water a day.
Each one is 102 metres long, 30m
wide and 9.2m in height and weighs
about 2,500 tonnes. As well as making
the evaporator units, ABJ also
fabricated the interconnecting pipes
from nickel-clad copper. In addition,
it transported the evaporator blocks
to Shuaiba North, where it welded
and hydro-tested them on site.
Fabricating
the
evaporators
required more than 3,000,000 holes
to be drilled in the copper-nickel
tube sheet and duplex stainless
steel support plates. To do so,
ABJ procured three large drilling
machines from Canada. To speed
up the tube insertion process, the
company designed a tube insertion
machine that can be used to insert
six tubes in one go.
Impressed by ABJ’s record in the
fabrication of evaporators, Fisia
recently placed another order for use
at the Takreer refinery in the UAE.
The new evaporator will measure
60m in length, 5m in width and 4.2m
in height, and will weight 420 tons.
Thus it will be much smaller than
the earlier ones. Nevertheless,
its fabrication entails all the
complications
of
the
bigger
evaporators, such as the need to drill
nearly 1,000,000 holes.
This new evaporator is currently
being fabricated in ABJ and is
giving KN’s subsidiary some unique
additional experience in specialised
welding and large-scale drilling.
kharafi national 25
APRIL 2014
EQUIPMENT DIVISION
Corporate
EQUIPMENT DIVISION ROUND-UP
The Equipment Division is vital for the successful execution of Kharafi National’s
projects ... yet few people realise how complex its operations can be.
... an interview with Operations Manager Rafiq Mikhail
The purpose of KN Equipment
Division is to support the company’s
projects with reliable, safe vehicles
and equipment that are in top-notch
condition, along with skilled drivers
and operators, at short notice as
needed.
“Indeed, the Equipment Division is
the backbone of Kharafi National,”
Operations Manager Rafiq Mikhail
told me recently. “Fully supporting
a project with equipment, drivers
and operators depends on many
variables ... the equipment itself,
safety, weather, traffic, the availability
of fuel and spare parts, the mood
of drivers and operators, among a
host of other factors. Sometimes all
these things do not come together
as required and we get the blame,”
Rafiq said with a laugh.
The Equipment Division has not
added any major equipment to its
fleet so far in 2013, except for a few
mobile cranes, six tower cranes
and some motor vehicles. Yet at the
end of August 2013 the division had
a total inventory of just less than
6,000 pieces of equipment. With
slightly more than 4,500 of these in
Kuwait, the rest of the equipment
was overseas in the other countries
in which KN operates.
“Due to the nature of KN’s operational
requirements,” Rafiq said, “we have
to be able to mobilise and demobilise
our equipment from country to
country quickly and efficiently. Take
the demobilization of the Habshan
project, for example ... over the past
few months we have repatriated vast
numbers of equipment and vehicles
from the UAE to Kuwait.”
Users of the division’s equipment
and vehicles find that it is always
in first-class condition. This is
because all equipment and vehicles
are examined every six months
by a dedicated inspection team.
This ensures that any faults can be
rectified before they become too
serious. It also enables the quality
of repairs to be verified. In addition,
these inspections keep track of the
individual items in inventory.
“It also means our equipment
is long-lasting,” Rafiq said. “By
analysing the performance of our
equipment and then maintaining
it in accordance with what we find,
we are able to extend its useful life.
Indeed our Engine & Transmission
Overhaul Programme has proved
very successful in lengthening the
life of our cranes and other major
construction equipment.”
26 kharafi national
High
quality,
well-maintained
equipment and vehicles are not very
useful without skilled operators and
drivers who work efficiently and
safely at all times. The Equipment
Division is well staffed and all its
personnel are well trained.
“Our ongoing training programmes
and safety meetings have reduced
accident rates drastically,” says
Rafiq, “even though our operations
teams are very active and are
available in round the clock to assist
projects.”
KN is renowned for its capabilities in
‘heavy transportation’.
“The Equipment Division has the
ability to transport extremely large
pieces of plant and equipment,”
said Rafiq, “up to 550 tons in weight
and 60 metres in length. Most of
our heavy transporting actives are
undertaken at night, as we need
special permission from Ministry of
the Interior in Kuwait because roads
need to be closed on both sides while
these heavy wide roads are passing
through.”
For accounting purposes, the division
charges projects for the equipment it
supplies. “Our charge-out rates are
much cheaper than market rates,”
Rafiq told me, “and it is our intention
to always keep our hire rates below
market prices.”
He went on: “with the release of our
latest hire rates, we have become
more project oriented. We have
take out all additional overheads
from our rates and our calculations
of equipment overtime have been
modified to suite project budgets.
Fuel rates are now being charged on
actual consumption.
In addition, if we have to hire
equipment from external sources
we still apply our internal rate. The
significant changes we have made to
our rates give projects greater profit
margins.”
The Equipment Division has more
than 520 saloon cars and Jeeps on
lease from third parties. I asked
Rafiq why the division was renting
rather than buying its own vehicles.
“Most of these small vehicles are
only used for short periods of time,”
Rafiq told me. “By renting them we
avoid investment and maintenance
costs which frees up funds for the
purchase of the major pieces of
equipment, such as cranes and
earth moving machines, KN needs
for its operations.”
“Of course,” he added, “if a project
has a duration of five years and needs
lots of light vehicles, we would buy
our own vehicles instead of renting
them.”
kharafi national 27
APRIL 2014
PROCUREMENT
Corporate
The problems anticipated by the CFT
included delays in the processing
of orders, delivery delays, a lack of
information at project sites about
the expected time of arrival of
materials, delays due to the need to
repair and replace materials on site,
tight schedules for the inspection
of materials, engineering delays,
logistical problems due to making
deliveries faster, lack of the additional
financing required, and difficulties in
the necessary by-passing of normal
procurement procedures during
fast-track procurement.
PROCUREMENT FOR FAST TRACK
PROJECTS
A project can be fast-tracked by rescheduling tasks that were originally timed
to run one after the other to run at the same time. Though it has its risks,
fast-tracking is a very effective way to shorten the duration of a project. This
methodology is now being applied with great success by KN Procurement.
... Material Control Manager Dr T Bala explains
The growing use of professional
construction management has been
synonymous with the development
of new project delivery systems
that have resulted in increased
expectations from the clients of
construction projects. Clients now
expect higher quality at lower prices
with quicker delivery.
In response to these challenging
demands from clients, and in order
to mitigate factors such as the high
cost of financing and ever increasing
construction costs, several new
approaches have been developed in
the construction industry. All these
methods seek to compress the
construction time of a project so that
the work involved follows the quickest
and most direct route to completion.
This is known as executing a project
on a fast-track basis.
The Amiri Diwan in Kuwait recently
awarded KN with contracts for the
construction of a new administration
building in Bayan Palace and the
development of Al Shaheed Park.
Both projects are being executed on
a fast-track basis, ie they must be
completed within 18 months. The
combined cost for materials for the
projects is USD150 million.
In any fast-track construction
project, the procurement and
material management team is under
heavy pressure to make sure that
material and services are delivered
in the most expeditious and flexible
manner. Completing prestigious
projects in a shorter time than usual
is always a challenge, as it often
demands many paradigm shifts.
However KN’s procurement team
has the experience and resources as
well as the well-qualified supplier
base needed to rise to the challenge
and maintain KN’s reputation with
the Amiri Diwan.
Once these two projects had
been awarded, the Procurement
Department joined Operations and
the Quality Control, Engineering,
Finance and Project Controls
departments in a cross-functional
team (CFT) in order to identify
problems that may affect the
procurement process and to devise
appropriate solutions. Fast-track
projects can run into various types
of problems and resolving these
requires the cooperation of all CFT
members.
KN Procurement has benefited
immensely from its experiences with
these two fast-track projects,
a) The procurement team has
learned how to cope with the
pressures generated by a shortened
project schedule, such as the need
for the project to be up and running
within the least possible time, as
well as the need to avoid excessive
financial costs and to minimise
project management costs and other
indirect costs.
b) The department has honed its
skills in ensuring the necessary
cooperation
and
coordination
between
Operations
and
the
procurement teams.
c) Procurement has developed
its ability to identify the potential
criticality of supplies by analysing
the interrelations between different
areas of the project. These
interrelations can be seen in our
illustration.
These two fast-track projects have
enriched the experience of the
KN’s procurement teams which are
now confident that they have the
skills needed to overcome similar
challenges at any time in the future.
JOINT OPERATIONS
PARTNERSHIP
AWARD
Kharafi National received the “Partnership Award” from Joint
Operations (JO) in recognition of KN’s contribution towards incident
and injury free operations during the year 2013.
Joint Operations has ultimate responsibility for all hydrocarbon
related activities in the divided neutral zone between Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia, where KN is delivering steam-flood support services.
The award was presented at the 9th annual Contractor’s Environment,
Health & Safety (EHS) forum which took place at the Hilton Hotel in
Kuwait on the 5th February 2014. During his speech at the ceremony,
David Barge, the manager of the large-scale steam-flood project for
JO, expressed appreciation for KN’s efforts in delivering the highest
standards of EHS.
28 kharafi national
kharafi national 29
APRIL 2014
INSTANT ACCESS
ABJ
Corporate
Corporate Developments
THE BIG 5 KUWAIT
CABLE FAULT LOCATION WITH THE
BAUR TEST VAN
Earlier this year Kharafi National began using a Baur test van to locate faults
in control and power cables. The van is generating significant savings in time
and money for the company and its clients.
... Project Manager Abdul Aziz Khudair explains
Instant Access, the leading supplier of construction sales and rental
equipment in Kuwait, was a main exhibitor at The Big 5 Kuwait where it sold
more than a million dollars worth of equipment in three days.
For more than 30 years The Big
5 has been introducing buyers in
the Middle East to comprehensive
ranges of construction products. In
recent years it has hosted extremely
successful exhibitions in the UAE
and Saudi Arabia.
This year, The Big 5 held its first
exhibition in Kuwait, from the
16th to the 18th September, at the
International Fairgrounds in Mishref.
Instant Access, a subsidiary of Kharafi
National, is the leading supplier of
construction equipment in Kuwait,
both on a sale and a rental basis.
“Participating in the first Big 5 in
Kuwait was an excellent opportunity
for us to assist in the next phase
of Kuwait’s development. Meeting
the country’s requirements for both
equipment and technology will
be vital for its development over
the next few decades,” said Chris
Brocklehurst Operations Manager.
He went on to predict that the
construction market will boom in
30 kharafi national
the next two years. Indeed, with
infrastructure investment estimated
at over US$200 billion, Kuwait’s
construction sector is going from
strength to strength.
Chris Brocklehurst went on to add:
“We were at The Big 5 Kuwait to
serve our clients by providing them
with the equipment and service that
best enables them to complete their
projects on time and within budget.”
By taking a prime location of 900sq
metres adjacent to the main entrance
to the show, Instant Access was able
to display a wide range of branded,
award-winning
construction
equipment.
The equipment exhibited by Instant
Access included SANY cranes,
excavators and concrete pumps;
Wacker
Neusen
compactors,
vibrators, rollers, rammers and
tower lights; CASE skid steer and
wheel loaders, and
telescopic
handlers; JLG access equipment,
scissor lifts and telescopic booms;
CLARK forklifts; Primax pumps;
Maeda crawler cranes; PM boom
equipment;
and
EuroTower
scaffolding.
In addition to supplying its customers
with equipment from internationally
renowned manufacturers for which
it is the agent in Kuwait and many
countries in the region, Instant
Access supports their operations with
advanced operator training, superior
servicing facilities and a full range of
spare-parts and consumables. The
firm also provides the best technical
advice in the region.
Instant Access took the opportunity
of the Big 5 Kuwait to enhance
its relationships with its existing
clients and to develop contacts with
potential customers in Kuwait and
Iraq. Technical teams from its key
principals were on hand to provide
manufacturer expertise, advice and
insight. As a result Instant Access
sold more than US$1,000,000 worth
of equipment in three days at the
show which further consolidated its
presence in the Kuwait market place.
Although modern cables, whether
for power transmission or control
systems, are highly developed and
very reliable, there are times when
cables need to be replaced. Before
you can replace a cable, however, you
need to be able to find it.
technologies. Its cable fault location
instruments and systems can be
used for finding different kinds of
faults ... short circuit faults, cable
cuts, resistive faults, intermittent
faults, and sheath faults among
other faults.
Before KN began using a Baur test
van, faults in underground cables
were found using cable fault locator
instruments that were not accurate.
This made it difficult to pin-point
exactly where a cable was faulty,
which mean that more cable than
necessary was replaced, a waste
of money as cables are expensive.
Finding faults also took a lot longer
and was more expensive in terms of
man-hours.
There are two steps in cable fault
location ... pre-location ... and pinpointing.
With pre-location the
distance to a fault is determined,
while pin-pointing determines the
exact location of a fault.
Baur of Germany is an international
leader in testing and measurement
The method used to locate faults will
vary depending on the type of cable
or fault. Baur’s pulse reflection
measuring instrument, for example,
is used to locate faults in single and
three phase cable systems. Surge
voltage generators are used to prelocate and pin-point high and low
resistance faults in power cables.
Baur has instruments to trace a cable
and to show how deep it is buried. Its
cable identification system can be
used to select single and multi-core
cables from a cable bundle.
These instruments can be packaged
into a customised test van. Baur’s
standard
system
combines
capabilities for pre-locating and
pin-pointing cable faults, cable
testing and diagnosis. The actual
instruments can be varied depending
on needs.
KN is now using a Baur test van,
which was factory-fitted by Baur with
the equipment required in Kuwait to
find out whether a cable is faulty,
trace the route of the cable, and pinpoint the fault. As can be seen from
the photo, the interior of the van
has been ergonomically designed to
ensure ease of operation.
The Baur cable test van is being used
on project 001072800 which involves
laying medium voltage cables on
behalf of the Ministry of Electricity
& Water in Kuwait. KN’s test van
can also be used to locate faults
in 11KV power cables. The system
has delivered major successes in
locating cable faults.
The testing equipment is easy to
operate, once the basic principles
and processes involved in cable fault
location and use of the instruments
are understood, and the operator
has had a bit of practice.
With the Baur test van, KN is now
able to pin-point the location of
faults in cables much faster and to
fix them without replacing an entire
length of cable ... a capability much
appreciated by clients.
kharafi national 31
APRIL 2014
L&D
EVENTS
CORPORATE
Corporate
STUDENTS SUMMER TRAINING AT KN
their training. The L&PM Unit also
conducted weekly reviews to check
the progress of students and resolve
any problems.
As is his yearly practice, MD Samer
Younis met the summer trainees,
along with the young engineers on
KN’s graduate development course,
in a combined four-hour interactive
meeting on the 17th July 2013,
where he obtained feedback and
suggestions from the participants.
After a lively question and answer
session, the trainees and graduate
engineers left with positive insights
into KN and a high level of motivation
and energy about their future.
Kharafi National’s summer training programme
for engineering undergraduates provides them
with valuable work experience that will help them
in their future careers.
... by L&D Unit Head Tamer Hamed Salem & L&D Assistant
Superintendent Maniyan Shajimon
In order to qualify for KN’s summer
training programme, engineering
students must have a grade point
average of at least 3.0 or average
marks of more than 70%, fluency
in written and spoken English, and
must be entering their final year at
the end of the summer. In addition,
they must be studying engineering
disciplines relevant to KN’s current
projects.
This year KN hosted 28 trainees ...
25 in Kuwait, one in the UAE and
two in Lebanon. The programme ran
for six weeks from the 29th of June
to the 5th of August 2013, shorter
than previous years in order to avoid
clashing with the Eid Al-Fitr holidays.
32 kharafi national
KN provided the students with
round-trip economy class air
tickets, visit visas, accommodation,
transportation, monthly allowances
and medical insurance.
Upon arrival, the students had
an orientation session conducted
by the Learning & Performance
Management Unit (L&PM), after
which they were conducted on
familiarisation tours of KN facilities
and departments. They then
dispersed to the projects to which
they had been assigned according to
their engineering disciplines.
Each project had a mentor to
assist and guide students during
The students had to submit a
completed workbook to L&PM
along with a report on their learning
experiences. They also had to
complete a questionnaire that tested
their overall understanding KN and
its various business lines.
At a meeting on their final day, each
student delivered a presentation
on their training experiences. They
took the opportunity to thank KN
for enabling them to experience a
“professional working environment”
and to enjoy and learn from “practical
experience at sites”.
As well as supporting students
with on-the-job experience and
knowledge relevant to their future
careers, the summer training
programme provides KN with an
opportunity to identify any talented
students who, after graduation,
would be suitable for the company’s
three-year graduate engineers’
development program.
KHARAFI NATIONAL PRESENTED A
PAPER AT THE GPCA
The
Gulf
Petrochemicals
&
Chemicals
Association
(GPCA)
organised a forum at the Rotana
Hotel in Dubai on the 24th and
25th of September 2013, at which
Kharafi National presented a paper
on ‘Responsible Care practices and
management systems relating to
environmental, health, safety and
security issues’.
Responsible Care is the chemical
industry’s
comprehensive
environment, health, safety and
security performance indicator,
which has been adopted globally.
The workshop in Dubai concentrated
on: (a) how the new management
system is becoming mandatory for
GPCA Members, and (b) how it will
be used as the principle requirement
in qualifying for tenders in the future.
The GPCA’s Responsible Care
programme is based on the
experiences
of
international
associations in the petrochemical
and chemical industries. To address
global issues in a concerted manner,
the GPCA has entered into alliances
with the American Chemistry
Council, the European Chemistry
Council, and the Canadian Chemical
Producers Association.
All petrochemical and chemical
companies in Kuwait, the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain
and the United Arab Emirates are
members of the GPCA, and the
workshop was attended by more than
250 CEOs, presidents and managers
from major Gulf companies.
KN’s presentation was well received
and the company has been asked to
sit on the GPCA’s technical board.
SAFETY PAYS
As everyone who works in Kharafi National knows, safety at work is a fundamental part of corporate culture. The
success of KN’s safety policies and procedures is evident in the latest figures for man-hours worked on various
projects without a lost-time incident.
Habshan 5 Project for GASCO in Abu Dhabi
70 million man-hours
Installation of LSFO, FG & gas-oil pipelines for KOC / Hyundai in Kuwait
22 million man-hours
Construction of new booster station in West Kuwait
14 million man-hours
Pipeline Works (Part-B) for KOC / Petrofac in Kuwait
12 million man-hours
Fabrication of Laggan Tormore pipe rack module for TOTAL in Kuwait
5.6 million man-hours
Infrastructure works for ADNEC in Abu Dhabi
5.5 million man-hours
Facility Management of Customs for GCS in Kuwait
5.2 million man-hours
Construction of Saadiyat Island sewage treatment plant in the UAE
5.0 million man-hours
Maintenance of production facilities for KOC in East Kuwait
3.0 million man-hours
O&M of Sulaibiya wastewater treatment plant for UDC in Kuwait
2.4 million man-hours
Shut-down of Borouge Plant in Ruwais in Abu Dhabi
1.3 million man-hours
kharafi national 33
EVENTS
APRIL 2014
EVENTS
CORPORATE
KN SPONSORS KUWAIT WATER TECH
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2013
Corporate
KN SPONSORS THE 9TH ANNUAL
KUWAIT PROJECTS CONFERENCE
Kharafi National was the main
sponsor of the Kuwait WaterTech
Conference & Exhibition which was
held on the 4th and 5th of November
2013 in the Hilton Kuwait Resort.
Kharafi National was the gold
sponsor of the 9th Annual Kuwait
Projects conference organised by
MEED Events at the Regency Hotel,
Kuwait City, in November 2013.
In the GCC region natural water
resources are minimal while the rate
at which water is consumed is one of
the highest in the world. Demand for
water is mainly met by desalination
plants and wastewater treatment
plants.
The conference opened with a preconference forum on the 24th and the
main conference took place on the
following two days. Post-conference
workshops were held on the 27th
November 2013.
The purpose of the conference was
to explore modern technologies for
making optimal use of the limited
water resources available in the
region, to provide a platform for
the exchange of the most advanced
technologies in the desalination
and water reuse industries, and to
ensure that demands for water and
challenges to the local ecosystems
are met with technologies that are
appropriate for arid and semi-arid
regions.
By bringing together key industry
experts, the Kuwait WaterTech
Conference gave panellists and their
audience the opportunity to discuss
current challenges and innovative
solutions to water industry issues in
the Middle East. Case studies on best
practices and recent developments
in the fields of water leakage,
desalination
and
wastewater
treatment were highlighted at the
conference.
34 kharafi national
The main objective of the conference
was to discuss Kuwait’s 5-year
development plans for its oil and
gas, electricity, water, transport,
housing and basic infrastructure
sectors. The event brought together
the key government and private
sector entities involved in turning
that US$250 billion vision into reality.
All public-private-partnership (PPP)
projects in Kuwait were discussed.
The conference addressed the
latest developments and business
opportunities associated with the
State’s mega projects as well as how
Kuwait can successfully deliver its
ambitious capital expenditure plans
by the inward transfer of global best
practices.
The 9th Annual Kuwait Projects
conference was supported by KPC,
the Ministry of Public Works and
the Partnerships Technical Bureau,
in coordination with the Ministry
of Electricity and Water, Kuwait
Municipality, KIA, the Ministry of
Health, the DGCA among other
government entities.
APRIL 2014