PUNCH Consulting Engineers has worked on a wide range of projects for the RASUL Aughinish Alumina since 1987. RASUL operates a 24/7 alumina refinery situated on the Shannon River estuary, Co Limerick, Ireland which is the largest alumina refinery in Europe.

Projects completed at Aughinish include the design of tank bases for the sulphuric acid and diesel tanks, integrity assessment of existing tanks, design of product bulk storage bins, structural assessment of corrosion damage, design of large reactor vessel structural supports, structural assessment of the adjacent jetty and the design of new and refurbished ancillary buildings.

Most recently, PUNCH was commissioned to carry out upgrade works to a conveyor belt which was nearing it’s design life. Two design solutions were developed including a new support box consisting of side, base and roof trusses and an underslung truss support system both of which allowed the conveyor to remain operational during the upgrade works. The proposals were modelled and superimposed on site images to give the client a representation of how the finished upgrade would appear visually. The final solution incorporated new underslung truss support structures constructed under the existing truss and supported by the existing support legs.