TENDER FOR CONSTRUCTION OF AN OIL/WATER SEPARATOR AT NALUBAALE POWER STATION

PRE-BID SITE INSPECTION REPORT

 We reported to Nalubaale Power station at 0930hrs. Site visit commenced at 1100hrs.

 Showed around the area by Mr. Joseph Musaasizi, a Mechanical Engineer.
 Only Civtec attended the official pre-bid site inspection

At the Power Station

The sources of oil are the Turbine Bearing oil boats and the servo-motor. This is consistent for all the 10 units at
the power station.

During operation, the turbine shaft splashes water into other operational areas whence it has to be drained. This
water is drained off by means of a pump, which discharges directly into the Nile River at the Tail Race of the
dam. It’s the oil leakages from the oil boats of the different turbine bearings that contaminate the drain-off water
which the project should address.

Drainage
Pipe
Oil Boat

Pump
Oily Water

Oily water in the turbines is pumped out through steel pipes to the river

The servo-motor is responsible for controlling the amount of water going through the turbine vanes by
hydraulically adjusting their position. This action uses a lot of hydraulic fluid which on many occasions seeps out
of its tubing. These seepages are trapped by a special container located at the bottom of the servo-motor from
where it is periodically collected and disposed of. However, owing to the age of the dam, there are cracks in the
structure, through which the trapped oil finds it way to the drainage pits. The drainage pits (2 in number) are the
lowest points of the dam. Water from all other operation areas of the dam collects into these drainage pits from
where it is pumped out and discharged into the river. Currently, the water is being discharged contaminated with
oil.
 Oil collected from the servo-motor which finally seeps through cracks in the structure to the drainage pits

At the Sub-Station

Oil contamination is mainly from the transformers which are cooled by water. During the process of cooling,
some of the transformer oil mixes with the cooling water which must ultimately be discharged into the river. An oil
water separator was constructed to remove this oil. It has been reported that this separator is not functioning
properly and when it rains, the separator overflows and oily water is observed being discharged.

Existing oil/water separator which was designed to clean oily water from the sub-station
Proposed Solution

According to information received from the site visit and from the Tender document, a design has been prepared
by Berenyi Incorporated, an American Architectural and Engineering firm. Drawings for the solution have been
prepared and will be sent to us at a later date. At this point, it is difficult to know whether a design capability
partner is required but an assessment will be made as soon as the drawings are received.