Field System Machining is presently machining autoclave covers at the Puerto Viejo Gold Mine in the Dominican Republic. The gold mine work setting is similar to remote hydroelectric field machining jobs, in that the site is access-restricted enough that our men are ‘on campus’ six days per week, with excursion buses provided by the client to shuttle the men into a city center on Saturday evenings and retrieve them Sunday evening.
The autoclaves are constructed of carbon steel, with the vessel shell made of 100mm-thick plate. A lead lining was put in during fabrication to protect the vessel shell from corrosion. The Pueblo Viejo autoclaves are the largest, by weight, refractory-lined autoclaves built to date globally, with a hook weight of 780t, lead lined. The massive structures are each 18+ft x 113ft. There are four in total. The round circles on the top and bottom of the autoclave are where the covers we are machining are located.
At present our crew has been in the country 33 days; work is due to be completed soon.