FITT Resources Turbomachinery Division — Expanding to Meet the Needs of Australian Industry

The FITT Resources Turbomachinery division (FTM) continues to grow in response to the needs of Australian industry, and these developments are yet another exciting chapter in the company’s decade-long expansion.

Turbomachinery is a highly specialised field, and one in which there is significant demand for overhaul, re-engineering and dynamic balancing services. FITT Resources has responded to the needs of Australian gas, mining, power generation and other industries through investing significantly in our turbomachinery workshop equipment and facilities, as well as the skills of our workforce.

The latter is especially important because there has in recent years been a decline in the number of technicians and engineers with turbomachinery experience. This is why we have prioritised the up-skilling and training of our internal technicians, so as to be able to provide comprehensive on-site and workshop-based turbomachinery services.

As FITT Resources Engineering Manager Daniel Hechter explains, “Rotating equipment experience can be hard to find. However, a growing need for this sort of expertise was becoming very apparent, and so since 2017 we have been working on a program of skill enhancement.

“There’s no formal training available in Australia for working with high speed equipment, and so our technicians are learning through hands-on experience and, in the process, developing the very specific expertise required. But while we’ve been working hard to develop a skilled-up workforce who are trained specifically in turbomachinery, this also had the knock-on effect making them better all-round technicians, which is good for us as a company and for all of our customers.”

In order to further increase our technical capabilities and skills base, FITT Resources has also begun an alliance with Revak Keene Turbomachinery, which is based in Houston, Texas and is one of the largest turbomachinery repair and service providers in the United States.

“Revak Keene is hugely experienced in turbine and compressor maintenance and servicing, especially in the oil and gas industry,” explained Daniel Hechter, “and this arrangement means that we now have access to their knowledge, service and equipment supply. This has been a really positive development that has helped us to up-skill and access resources and equipment when we’ve needed them.”

Our turbomachinery division is based in the FITT Resources workshops in Lisarow, and the ongoing development which we have undertaken means we are now able to provide a comprehensive range of engineering services. The team is set up to work with all types of high speed equipment, including steam turbines, compressors, gearboxes and multi-stage pumps as the result of a significant expansion of our turbomachinery workshop equipment and facilities.

“We’re now getting to the stage where we’re able to accomplish things in the turbomachinery space that others can’t,” said Daniel Hechter. “And as our skill set grows, so will our capabilities. I expect that this will include a greater proportion of field and on-site work as well, particularly as we begin to take on more design and installation projects.

“We have just completed a boiler feed pump seal upgrade and change at a 450MW power station. Supply and installation of this type of equipment provides a turnkey service for our customers, where the work quality can be controlled all throughout the process. This is an expanding service that we are now able to offer.”

As FITT Resources celebrates its tenth anniversary, the growing importance of our turbomachinery division demonstrates the ways in which we are always seeking to improve the engineering support we provide for the Australian mining, production, power and water industry sectors.

Contact FITT Resources Turbomachinery Services to learn more about our expanded workshops and technical expertise. Call us on 1300 653 229 or email contact@fittresources.com.au.