Panels Arauco S.A. built a new Medium Density Particle Board (MDP) plant. The project included the installation of two lamination lines for the production of melamine boards and an impregnation line for the preparation of the melamine papers required for the panel lamination process.

The nominal production capacity is 300,000 m3 of finished panels per year, with densities ranging from 600 to 760 kg/m3. The production capacity of melamine-coated boards is 250,000 m3 per year, and the capacity of the impregnation line will be 36,000,000 m2 per year.

In mid-2011, the management of CMPC Maderas’ Plywood plant requested support to estimate the investment involved in expanding its facilities to double its production, going from 240,000 m3 to 500,000 m3 of panels per year without stopping its operation, and to incorporate new technologies to optimize its processes and the efficient use of energy. This is how PA Engineering takes on the challenge, but with an extra ingredient, to carry out the task under the demands and commitment involved in carrying out an EPCM Target Price.

In the first stage of the project, and with the intention of estimating the investment to carry out the transformation of Plywood, a group of PA Engineering professionals worked on the basic engineering.

In May 2012, the second stage of the project began, the development of detailed engineering in mechanics, piping, civil and structures, electricity and instrumentation and control, which implied not only the expansion of the plant on its four sides, but also the redesign and expansion of the by-product handling areas.  the steam networks, compressed air, fire network, sewage treatment plant and electrical system.

As the detailed engineering progressed, advances began in the procurement, in order to begin construction, all under strict control of compliance with deadlines and Capex and without interfering with the normal operating schedule of the plant.

The expansion project to increase production from 240,000 m3/year to 500,000 m3/year of finished plywood, also included the expansion of the industrial warehouse by 31 thousand m2, expansion of the office building, doubling the storage capacity of the piece yard, incorporating an additional unwinding line with its respective by-product handling area,  two dryers, an additional joining machine, two automatic gluing and arming lines, two cold presses and two hot presses, and in the finishing area, two automatic panel repair lines and a new squaring and sanding line were incorporated. Additionally, a line was installed to provide greater added value to the panels (texturing, profiling and grooving).

Along with this, the pending areas of the original project were carried out: paving of interior roads, warehouse buildings, spare parts, maintenance workshops, quality control laboratory, dressing rooms, casino, operations and administration offices.

The F4F Talca plant receives and processes organic waste like domestic waste, producing proteins and oils of high nutritional and functional value, as well as bioinput for its application in the agricultural industry, through the cultivation of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens).

The Plant currently has an authorized organic waste treatment capacity of 250 t/month and a current production of 5 t/month of flour.

Thus, PA Engineering Environmental Management prepared and submitted for evaluation, through an Environmental Impact Statement, a project that seeks to increase the capacity of the Talca plant, both in the reception and processing of organic waste from approx. 28 t/day to 100 t/day and the flour production capacity up to 100 t/month. The favourable resolution of the project was obtained within 8 months by a unanimous vote of approval.

This growth will involve, among other aspects, increasing the frequency of receiving organic waste; expanding the types of organic waste received and treated; and to increase both the storage capacity and the installed electrical power of the facilities. In addition, it may receive liquid waste for the process of preparing the food of the larvae, from the food industry (beverages or residual yeasts from the alcoholic fermentation process, from the agribusiness and livestock industry (residues from vineyards, fruits and vegetables), for a volume of 6.5 m3/day.

PA Engineering intervened in the proposal through the development of the conceptual engineering, estimating the investment necessary to carry out the project. Subsequently, we presented the basic engineering, in which the required processes were defined, then developed the detailed engineering in all disciplines and the management of the procurement of the equipment abroad.

Along with this work, the PA Engineering Environmental Management, worked on the archaeological survey and the obtaining of related environmental permits. Then the Engineering Management developed the construction program and provided the ground engineering, which allowed the required adjustments to be made to the details of the construction.

The project consisted of the detailed engineering design of a semi-refrigerated LPG storage terminal, consisting of a sphere of 10,000 m3, 2,000mts. of 12″ pipeline (800 meters underground and 1,200 meters underwater), 200,000 Kcal refrigeration system, island and truck loading pumps, fire protection system, flame and gas detection and auxiliary equipment (air compressor, backup generator, SSEE) as well as piping, valves and instruments.

In addition, PA Engineering services included project management, planning, supervision, inspection (mechanical and electro-instrumental ITO), quality assurance, procurement of equipment and materials, in conjunction with the client, document control and planning and control of the progress of the different subcontracts corresponding to the project.

The project considered an investment of US$ 27.5 million, which was completed to the satisfaction of the client in cost and time

The Talabre Dam, located in the Chuquicamata mining district, is currently in operation in its Stage VIII of growth, with a final capacity of 1,451 Mm3. The operation of the dam includes the gradual growth of the perimeter walls, which are designed to the highest standards to meet the demand for tailings storage. An upcoming expansion of the perimeter walls called Construction IX stage Talabre dam is projected, which will operate until 2030, reaching a final capacity of 1,771 Mm3.

Through a tender, Codelco’s Vice Presidency has awarded PA Engineering the development of the detailed engineering for several systems of the Construction IX Phase Talabre Dam project. These include the Tailings Conduction and Deposit System, the Water Recovery and Recirculation System, the Hydraulic Barrier, the Electric Supply, and the Centralized Monitoring and Control. The designs are being carried out using BIM and Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) methodologies.

This project foresees an increase of 320 million cubic meters in the tailings storage capacity of the Ministro Hales and Chuquicamata divisions, which will imply the growth of the perimeter walls of the Talabre Dam, raising the level from 2496 meters above sea level to 2500 meters above sea level.

The Project consisted of modifying the infrastructure in the plant to introduce a leaching process with high chlorine content, using the Cuprochlor® technology, which Antofagasta Minerals has been using for some years, allowing to improve the recovery of sulphide minerals that exist in the deposit and that are part of its base case. These sulphide, by the conventional leaching method in an acid medium, reach an average recovery between the ranges of 50% to 55%; With this technology, it is projected to reach values in ranges above 70%.

With the aim of accelerating the committed decarbonization, HIF set out to develop the first demonstration plant to generate E-Methanol and E-Gasoline from carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and hydrogen (H2) from water, including a wind turbine, an electrolyzer for hydrogen generation, CO2 capture, methanol synthesis, the Methanol-to-Gasoline (MtG) process and the entire balance of plant (BOP) in the Magallanes Region.  Chile.

HIF built the Haru Oni demonstration plant. This is one of the first projects of its kind in the world. The plant obtains green hydrogen from water based on an electrolyzer powered by wind energy; then, the hydrogen is combined with CO2 captured from the atmosphere and through a synthesis process methanol is produced. The methanol produced is treated and then transformed into E-Fuel (MtG process), including carbon-neutral gasoline and carbon-neutral liquefied gas. These E-Fuels cement the way for existing infrastructure to be carbon neutral, through the continuous reuse of CO2.

PA Engineering developed the BOP engineering of the MtG Plant, performing the basic and detailed engineering in mechanical, piping, structural, electrical and instrumental and control necessary to complete the MtG System, including the MtG unit building, the Tank Farm, the electrical power system, the interconnections with the methanol plant,  truck loading systems and facilities for other supplies from the MtG and Tank Farm areas.

The wind farms will have a combined capacity of 267 megawatts. The most advanced is San Gabriel, which will be made up of 61 AW132/3000 wind turbines, with 3 MW of nominal power, each wind turbine will mount a rotor of 132 meters in diameter on a concrete tower with a hub height of 120 meters, reinforced with anti-seismic technology.

The Tolpán Sur wind farm will have an 84 MW installation, made up of 28 turbines like those planned in San Gabriel. Both parks are expected to provide clean energy to about 407,000 homes. The Project is still under construction.

Orafti Chile commissioned a study of energy consumption optimization to the engineering office of its parent company in Germany. The objective of this study was to reduce the thermal energy consumption of the plant.

The project to reduce the energy consumption of its Inulin production plant began with the conceptual engineering study carried out by PA Engineering. The project included the piping to interconnect the new equipment and the replacement of existing lines, either due to hydraulic or material requirements. Then, basic and detailed engineering was carried out, which included modifications and new installations, the arrangement of evaporators, modifications to existing ones, installation of heat exchangers and transformation of existing ones, installation of pumps and tanks, assembly and/or modification of piping circuits, among others.

The project consisted of the recovery of CO2 carbon dioxide from an outlet gas stream (Tail gas), rich in CO2, hydrogen H2 and methane CH4, which was generated at the CHT Hydrogen Plant of ENAP Bío Bío Refinery. This current was returned to the reforming furnaces of the plant to be used as fuel, where the CO2 contained was released into the environment because of combustion.

PA Engineering participated in developing the Environmental Impact Statement in 2005, when this project began with the signing of an agreement between INDURA and ENAP Refineries, with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions in said refinery and thus accessing the issuance of Carbon Credits, tradable in the market to companies that are obliged to emit fewer Greenhouse Gases.  generating both economic and environmental benefits. 

PA Engineering performed basic and detail engineering in different disciplnes in 2007. The project considered the installation of a CO2 recovery plant from the Tail gas stream, which was composed of the necessary equipment to efficiently extract CO2 from said stream, for subsequent purification and liquefaction, with an approximate production of 3,600 tons/month.

In turn, Indura managed to reduce the use of fossil fuel (natural gas and propane) previously used to produce the CO2 it produces.

This project became the first plant to capture and produce CO2, based on a methodology developed by both companies approved by the Executive Board of the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

In 2014, Minera Centinela, an operation of Antofagasta Minerals, was faced with the need to eliminate one of the bottlenecks that prevented its concentrator from operating at nominal capacity, i.e., 100 thousand tons per day.

The proposed solution was to carry out an EPC project to build a secondary and tertiary crushing plant in parallel to the existing line, so that it will process the difference of approximately 20 thousand tons per day and will feed directly to the ball mills that have the available grinding capacity.

Within this EPC, PA Engineering performed the construction management, part of the engineering and the supply of the related materials and equipment. The scope of the engineering included the complete civil works of the project, the piping engineering, including the fire protection network, the piping and the electrical, instrumentation and control interconnection, as well as the processing of sectorial permits.

During 2015, this project came into operation, which allowed the concentrator plant to reach its design capacity.