When Orange River Cellars (ORC) in Upington decided to replace their coal-fired boilers with a more appropriate solution for their short-run fruit syrup and winery operations, Reef Rigging managed the transport and installation of the replacement 11-tonne oil-fired boiler from Boiler Industrial Plant’s Durban facility to ORC’s Upington plant — a long-haul cross-provincial abnormal load transport project followed by a precision boiler installation.
Why ORC Replaced Their Coal-Fired Boilers
Coal-fired boilers, while cost-effective in certain high-volume steam applications, presented operational challenges for ORC’s short-run batch processing. The maintenance requirements, regulatory compliance burden, and particularly the lengthy steam-up cycle time made coal unsuitable for a processing operation requiring rapid, responsive steam availability for short production runs. The new oil-fired boiler offered faster startup, lower maintenance demands, and greater flexibility for ORC’s winery and syrup concentrate production.
The Transport and Installation
The new 11-tonne oil-fired boiler was transported from BIP Durban to ORC Upington on a low-bed trailer under abnormal load route permits — a journey of over 800 kilometres. At the Upington facility, Reef Rigging managed the offloading and installation of the boiler at its new location, working in coordination with BIP’s boiler engineering team for the final commissioning of the unit.
For boiler replacement, transport, and installation services across South Africa, explore Reef Rigging’s boiler services or contact the team.