Engineering

Philosophy / guidelines

High - quality plant planning and design for the best possible use of our customers. Flexibility, dynamic implementation and cost efficiency are the key success factors. VTA stands for a reliable and competent partner in all questions of plant construction. Safety in planning, execution and commissioning is a top priority for us. For this purpose, we always use the right planning methods at all times. Technical assessments and risk assessments are just as natural to us as regular audits, assurance processes and lessons learned.

Our planning services are based on all relevant technical standards and common industry standards as well as governmental rules and regulations. Each and every one of our employees takes advantage of this pronounced and realistically lived philosophy. We ensure this through individual education and training.

The VTA engineering covers a holistic planning from the project idea up to the transfer of the plant to the customer by including the necessary commissioning support. In the course of project phases and cycles, different methodologies of proven classical project management and forward-looking planning processes are used.

The organization - the team

The VTA engineering organization is divided into the groups mechanical design, E&I incl. automation as well as engineering services. Each group is led by exceptionally experienced engineers, with a team of employees who have many years of experience in plant design and construction.

The mechanical design group combines the classical mechanical disciplines of apparatus engineering, machine technology and piping design.

The group E&I incl. automation is divided into the teams electrical engineering, instrumentation and control engineering and automation.

The project-supporting and complementary teams of the engineering service comprise engineering management, quality assurance and technical documentation.

Special knowledge and competence in all disciplines

VTA has extensive expertise in various specialized fields of plant engineering. These include strength calculations of various plant components as well as stress calculations of pipe systems. In addition, VTA offers comprehensive support in the development of issues relating to the topics SIL calculation, explosion protection and control valve calculations.

Competence and qualification of our engineers and technicians is ensured through regular training and further education in the relevant knowledge areas of interest.

Scope of the VTA engineering

The scope of services extends from small scale brown-field planning to multidisciplinary large-scale projects. Here, modern planning tools are used. For special tasks extensive networks and cooperations can be used. This is particularly of interest in the context of project integration into shutdowns, with which VTA also has extensive and long-standing experience.

To ensure the implementation of the best possible plant components and devices, we make use of our extensive networking with suppliers and our broad market knowledge, while at the same time we also carry out expediting and inspections related to fabrication of equipment and incoming goods after delivery.

Our customers benefit from our highly flexible, sustainable and at the same time powerful, modern and economically balanced technology design and expert know-how! We can also secure a robust operational reliability by relying on our decades of experience in plant design.

The technical disciplines

For successful project execution, VTA can look back to many years of experience in plant design and construction. Technically, we can draw on all technical disciplines. For many years now, we have developed engineering processes for the interaction of all technical disciplines, which enable us to efficiently process our projects and handle them on time. These processes are subject to a continuous development process and can be adjusted to the specific customer needs.

VTA offers expert know-how in the following areas:

Static equipment

  • Expert knowledge of all kinds of process equipment, columns, reactors, heat exchangers, pressure vessels, filter units, (package units) and tanks
  • Know-How: What really matters in design and layout?
  • PED 2014/68 / EU according to various design codes (EN 13445 / AD 2000)
  • DIMy calculations for pre-dimensioning and modifications to existing equipment
  • Materials: What do I use to optimize my specific needs within the framework of my chemical, physical and operational boundary conditions?
  • Production knowledge, welding and joining technologies
  • FEM calculations and strength checks

Rotating equipment

  • Different pump types (displacer / centrifugal pumps, ...)
  • Sealing systems
  • German TA-Luft and ATEX requirements
  • Knowledge of materials
  • Requirements from the European Machinery Directive / API

Piping and layout design

  • Piping design
  • Material science
  • Flange and sealing technology
  • Valves
  • Calculation systems (stress analysis pipe 2 / internal pressure load / flange calculations with tightness according to German TA-Luft)
  • Knowledge of regulations (PED / AD 2000 / EN 13480 / TA-Luft)
  • 3-D modelling using state-of-the-art CAE tools
  • Laser scanning

Electrical engineering

  • Telecommunications
  • Fire alarm systems
  • Grounding, lightning protection and equipotential bonding
  • Switchgear (low voltage / medium voltage / secured power supply / UPS
  • Drive technology
  • Lighting protection equipment
  • Building equipment engineering / installation according to industry standard (control room equipment)
  • Heating / air conditioning / ventilation for industrial plants (HVAC)
  • Trace heating

Instrumentation

  • Selection of measuring principles / implementation of the control technical task
  • Selection of the necessary device technology
  • Safety assessment (failure, redundancy concept)
  • Implementation of explosion protection / Ex (i) verification
  • Participation in hazard analyzes (HAZOP, LOPA)
  • Implementation of SIL / SIL detection
  • Calculation (Conval) and specification inline devices
  • Request for quotation, technical offer comparison, recommended procurement, procurement plans
  • Networking with suppliers of measurement technology
  • Wireless networks for measurement technology, industrial ethernet
  • Preparation of the required revision-proof documentation (pre-phases, assembly, as-built)
  • Start-up support
  • Assembly monitoring
  • Control cabinet planning / installation planning
  • Instrumentation job lists, limit lists
  • Inspection
  • FAT documentation
  • Technical documentation on customer-specific CAE systems
  • Basic (concept) and detailed planning 
  • P&ID processing (complete presentation of instrumentation tasks)
  • Implementation of safety philosophies
  • Integration of package units

Analysis technology

  • Implementation of the technical analysis task
  • Specification of the device technology
  • Detail engineering of analysis measurements
  • Integration into the automation concepts 

Automation

  • Infrastructure / network structure
  • Terminal automation
  • System selection
  • DCS Programming (Schneider Electric / Yokogawa / Siemens S5 / S7 etc.)
  • PLC Programming
  • PLC Service (especially HIMA)
  • System cabinet planning / construction / commissioning
  • FAT
  • Bus couplings
  • Technical specifications
  • Requisitions
  • Implementation studies

Engineering management

Engineering Management is a central and integral component in the execution of complex, multidisciplinary plant design and construction projects. The main task is the technical project control and coordination of the activities of all involved engineering disciplines. An essential key is the continuous technical assessment of the overall planning result with estimates of deviations and risks. For this purpose, VTA employs highly qualified engineering managers to successfully handle demanding projects.

Quality assurance static equipment and piping

VTA acts as manufacturer of piping according to PED 2014/68 / EU.

Design, conformity assessment, control of the manufacturers according to a proved-and-tested QA procedure and the issuing of all relevant documents pave the way for a successful pre-commissioning test according to all national regulations. 

We perform inspections of manufactured equipment and manufacturers by using a proven know-how based production and inspection plan and a supplier evaluation system.

Technical documentation

Often underestimated, technical documentation plays a very important role. At the latest, the requirement for a complete plant documentation to be available prior to plant commissioning shows that special attention must be paid to the correct preparation of a wide range of documentation during the project implementation. VTA uses proven processes, from standardized document lists, document names and nomenclatures to document management systems for audit-proof archiving.

The documentation is supported by the use of highly productive reproduction and copy systems.

Always there for questions.

VTA Verfahrenstechnik und Automatisierung GmbH 
An der Landwehr 2b, 45883 Gelsenkirchen
Phone +49 209 95 15-0 
Fax +49 209 95 15-423 
info@vta.de