State-owned Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) has selected Sweden-based Atlas Copco’s oil-free screw compressors for its ambitious strategy – ‘Sewa Vision 2020’.

Atlas Copco, a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions, serves customers with innovative compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools and assembly systems.

Sewa, with its focus on energy conservation, has chosen six units of Atlas Copco’s two stage water-cooled oil-free screw compressors, model ZR75, to replace their existing aging fleet of reciprocating compressors at its giant Layyah Power Plant in the emirate.

‘Sewa Vision 2020’ aims to reduce energy and water consumption and carbon emissions as well as reducing the environmental impact of their operations.

Atlas Copco said it has pioneered the development of oil-free air technology, resulting in a range of air compressors and blowers that provide 100 per cent pure, clean oil-free air required for instrument air applications in power plants.

Following the review of proposals from different vendors and evaluating different compression technologies, Sewa finalised Atlas Copco's oil-free screw compressors to replace the existing reciprocating units, it added.

Initially the Layyah team ordered two units in 2008 to confirm the performance and once convinced they have steadily progressed with replacing the remaining reciprocating compressors over the last few years. Now a total six units are in service in place of the eight reciprocating units, it added.

Essa Al Suweidi, power generation manager, Layyah Plant, said: “These units together have improved plant reliability many folds, while reducing maintenance cost to a fraction of what was being spent on the older reciprocating units, and to top it all these units have reduced the energy consumption by over 20 per cent which is meeting the vision 2020 of the Sewa management.”

Khalid Shaikh, regional business line manager of Atlas Copco, stressed the fact that Atlas Copco Z series of oil free compressors are best in class in the industry, it stated.-TradeArabia News Service