Verallia, considered a world leader in the glass packaging sectors for wines, spirits and food, produces more than 16,000 million containers each year for its more than 10,000 customers around the world. In Chile, the company produces glass bottles to serve mainly the wine industry, using the latest technology available in the manufacture of glass containers in its modern plant located in Rengo.

In order to maintain this leadership, Verallia decided to modernize its factory, which was enabled to produce 240 tons of molten glass per day through the operation of a melting furnace and 2 production lines with 120 tons/day of processing capacity each.

The constructed area of the factory was 4.7 ha, due to the fact that in recent years a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tank was implemented that occupies an area of 525 m2, a treatment plant of “cullet” or calcín (glass from recycling) that occupies an area of approximately 591 m2.

The project carried out by Pa Engineering contemplated increasing the production capacity of the factory to total 405 tons/day of molten glass, for which the replacement of the current furnace was considered, because it fulfilled its useful life, with a new one that allowed the integration of the largest amount of molten glass, and the incorporation of a new production line of 165 tons/day.

To carry out this work, the building where the production is carried out was expanded, which also houses the new melting furnace and the new production line, plus an electrical room to supply the energy demand of the new facilities.

In addition, in the EPCM development, due to the increase in processing capacity at the factory, the expansion and modification of some of the existing facilities was contemplated, such as the finished product warehouse, truck loading yard, cullet tanks, process water plant, LNG storage area and parking lots.

An important point to note is that while the project was being developed, the production process never stopped, consequently, once the new furnace was implemented, the operation of the old furnace was deactivated. Achieving the above requires great planning and coordination of the entire team of specialists from the conception of the project to carry out the designs and define the construction sequence without altering the normal operation of the plant or risking the safety of the workers.

The project carried out by PA Engineering contemplated increasing the production capacity of the factory to total 405 tons/day of molten glass, for which the replacement of the current furnace was considered, because it fulfilled its useful life, with a new one that allowed the integration of the largest amount of molten glass, and the incorporation of a new production line of 165 tons/day.

To carry out this work, the building where the production is carried out was expanded, which also houses the new melting furnace and the new production line, plus an electrical room to supply the energy demand of the new facilities.

In addition, in the EPCM development, due to the increase in processing capacity at the factory, the expansion and modification of some of the existing facilities was contemplated, such as the finished product warehouse, truck loading yard, cullet tanks, process water plant, LNG storage area and parking lots. An important point to note is that while the project was being developed, the production process never stopped, consequently, once the new furnace was implemented, the operation of the old furnace was deactivated. Achieving the above requires great planning and coordination of the entire team of specialists from the conception of the project to carry out the designs and define the construction sequence without altering the normal operation of the plant or risking the safety of the workers.

The project for Maersk Container Industry was executed under the EPCM modality and consisted of the construction of a refrigerated container factory. The construction of the plant was approximately 70,000 m2 and was located on a 330,000 m2 site, producing 40,000 containers per year.

The project, which was developed under a PCM (Procurement & Construction Management) modality, consisted of the expansion of the glass container production plant and considered the installation of a new furnace and three packaging production lines. To this end, the existing industrial warehouse was expanded by 14,000 m2. In addition, the auxiliary systems associated with the main process (natural gas, diesel, fuel oil No. 5, LPG, air, plant water, drinking water, soft water, cooling water, treated water, firefighting water, firefighting foam and oily water) were expanded.

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.

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

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.

PA Engineering consolidates its presence in Peru at the end of 2020 with the opening of an office. After months of coordinated work between Santiago and Lima, PA Engineering Peru assumes the responsibility of developing the construction management for the infrastructure projects necessary for the development of Minera Las Bambas.

The work focused on the construction management of multidisciplinary projects in civil, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation, field control and supervision, occupational health and safety, quality management and commissioning.

Las Bambas is a mining deposit that produces copper and molybdenum concentrate; however, the mining company expects that the development of the Chalcobamba deposit will increase production at Las Bambas from 380,000 to 400,000 tons of copper concentrate per year in the medium term. Also, with the start of operations of the new pit, the company plans to expand the capacity of the processing plant from 145,000 tons per day to 152,250 tons per day.

COPEC has a plant for the reception, storage and dispatch of clean products (diesel, kerosene, gasoline). The project involved the construction of a new 10,000 m3 diesel storage tank.

A “Grass Root” project was developed in a plant producing 120,000 tonnes per year of adhesive resins for wood panels. The project included the installation of four reactors to produce resins and a plant of 35,000 (tons/year) of formaldehyde, plus all the auxiliary systems for its operation, such as: compressed air system, steam boilers, cooling water system, RILES treatment plant, storage of raw materials and products, electrical systems, etc.  instrumentation and control, etc.

This project passed all the regulations and certifications required by the German environmental, safety and TUV quality certification bodies.

COPEC has a base and blending reception plant to produce lubricating oils in Quintero, so the objective of this project was to expand the plant’s storage capacity, through the installation and interconnection of three new tanks of 1,000 m3 each.

On September 1, 2010, Codelco’s Board of Directors at the time decided to create the Ministro Hales Division, the youngest of the Corporation, to increase the value of the state-owned company through the exploitation and processing of minerals from the deposit, originally known as Mansa Mina.

The project, led by Codelco’s Corporate Vice-Presidency, included the realization of the mine area, material removal and construction of the open pit mine; the infrastructure, where the facilities for maintenance services and the administration and engineering facilities would be located; the concentrator plant, with the processes of primary crushing, belt transport, stockpiling, milling and flotation; and the roasting plant.   

PA Engineering, together with Echeverría Izquierdo, presented a project for the EPC engineering and construction of two lime milk plants for the new Ministro Hales Division, one to feed the grinding plant for the flotation process and the other for the neutralization of effluents in the roasting plant. The proposal included Project management, engineering, procurement of equipment (including offshore fabrication inspection) and materials, project management, site engineering and construction technical support, commissioning and start-up of the two units.

The project was developed between 2012 and 2013, for two storage silos (750 ton) and lime milk preparation systems (8.6 ton/h) equipped with the largest slakers available in the industry (12 t7h) for the Concentrator and Roasting plants. In addition, the interconnection of services to the slurry preparation systems was made from the existing grate to each of the respective systems.

Finally, connections were made to the concentrator and roasting electrical room (subway duct bank) and connections to the concentrator and roasting control room (signal repeater via fiber optics, subway duct bank).

On January 5, 2016, the open pit mine was officially inaugurated, located at an altitude of 2,600 meters and almost 10 kilometres north of Calama along the road that connects this city with Chuquicamata. It is currently one of the most modern copper production complexes in the country and produces copper calcine, copper concentrate and silver.

According to Codelco’s website, the hallmark of Ministro Hales is determined using technology and innovation in its processes, with an operation that respects environmental regulations and is in permanent contact with the communities. In 2020 it produced 170,606 metric tons of fine copper and 260,981 kilos of silver.

The project considered basic and detailed engineering, supplies, construction of civil works, manufacture and assembly of geodesic dome-type metal structures to specify the coverage of the court, which has multiple characteristics such as being self-supporting, light and allows it to adapt to the geometry of the terrain. This particularity makes the construction fast and similar to a large puzzle that is assembled by technical teams throughout the coverage area, without the use of cranes.

Once the structure was completed, a base cover of ribbed metal sheets was laid, similar to those used in industrial buildings. The project covered an area of 45,000 m2.

The project consisted of the replacement of the two 66/13.2 kV and 2.6 MVA transformers with a new 15 MVA equipment. It included the reuse of existing equipment, the extension of the 66 kV busbar, an extension of the 13.2 kV busbar in at least two positions for future feeders and the necessary civil works. It also included the necessary works for the Commissioning, such as adaptation of the protections, SCADA, civil works, assembly, earthing mesh, tests of the new equipment, and adaptations in the medium voltage yard, among others.

PA Engineering established the management team of this project through a management PMO to ensure its proper development. The work of the PMO that took charge of the project ranged from its basic and detailed engineering stage, obtaining building permits, environmental permits, supplies, construction and assembly, Commissioning and until the Entry into Operation of the new facility, which was achieved on August 25, 2022.

During the last decades, environmental issues have become increasingly relevant, a situation that we have seen reflected in the creation and modification of laws and regulations related to environmental protection and prevention in matters such as pollution.
In this scenario, in 2013 Supreme Decree N°28 was enacted, a new Emission Regulation for Copper Smelters and Arsenic Emitting Sources, of the Ministry of Environment, which aims to reduce emissions of arsenic and sulphur, in addition to establishing continuous monitoring of sulphur dioxide in the main sources emitting these pollutants, thus protecting the health of people and the environment throughout the national territory. Under this new regulatory framework, Codelco begins a 5-year investment plan that will allow it to comply with the new emissions standard and reduce its annual emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) by almost 100,000 tons and arsenic by around 1,300 tons.
PA Engineering proposed the upgrading of the Flash Furnace to increase its capacity from 825 ktpa to 1,170 ktpa. This involved detail, counterpart and on-site engineering, support in procurement process and start-up.

The result:
Five projects were executed at the Smelter in order to comply with regulations:

• Two new double absorption acid plants to increase gas capture, in order to comply with the sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentration in the chimney of 600 parts per million, executed by Codelco’s Project Vice-Presidency.
• The upgrade of the Flash furnace, which increased its capacity from 825 thousand tons per year to 1,170 thousand tons per year.
• The replacement of dryer 5 with dryer 6, which reduces the level of particulate matter and SO2 emissions in the concentrate drying process.
• The treatment of refinery gases, which allows us to process all the gases emitted from the chimneys of the refining furnaces, with the aim of reducing particulate matter emissions to values below 20% opacity.
• The Pierce Smith converter hoods were replaced to increase sulfur capture and comply with regulations regarding annual SO2 capture.
  During 2020, the Chuquicamata Smelter focused on consolidating its operations under the new environmental standards, following the implementation of the investment projects. In terms of results, according to Codelco’s 2020 Report, the smelter achieved a 97.2% capture of arsenic emissions and 97.7% of sulfur emissions, complying with the 95% required by the supreme decree.

PA Engineering provided the support of disciplinary engineers, with the purpose of fulfilling an owner engineer role, in order to ensure that the EPC contractor’s engineering met the quality and safety objectives required by the project. It was considered to verify the consistency of the project’s engineering, compliance with CAP regulations and standards. Additionally, construction management was carried out as a support in the relationship with the EPC contractor.

The project consisted of the construction of a new iron ore stockpile yard and the installation of new recovery and transport belts, roads and works attached to the infrastructure, in order to increase the port’s loading and occupancy capacity.