Ghafari Assocs. LLC: Ford Motor Sanand Vehicle + Engine Assembly Plant

New construction at an industrial/manufacturing facility/warehouse.

By Ghafari Assocs. LLC August 14, 2014

Engineering firm: Ghafari Assocs. LLC
2014 MEP Giants rank: 33
Project: Ford Motor Sanand Vehicle + Engine Assembly Plant
Address: Sanand, Gujarat, India
Building type: Industrial/manufacturing facility/warehouse
Project type: New construction
Engineering services: Automation/controls, electrical/power, fire/life safety, HVAC/mechanical, lighting, and plumbing/piping
Project timeline: 1/1/2011 to 12/31/2014
MEP/FP budget: $100,000,000

Challenges

For this fast-track project, the challenge was document production in a short time for such a large facility. Ford engineers wanted a design with a 40-year life span with adequate flexibility to allow for future changes in technology. The design was mandated to comply with Indian and American codes, and on many occasions, Ghafari engineers made decisions that satisfied both codes. The Japanese company, Kajima, had never worked on a project in India; therefore, Ghafari assisted it with permitting, factory inspections, and construction coordination through on-site staff deployment.

Solutions

Ghafari is teamed with Kajima for the development of Ford’s new automotive manufacturing complex in India. The 200-hectare site will accommodate 17 buildings totaling 400,000 square meters, including an engine plant, stamping shop, body shop, paint shop, trim, chassis, final shop, administration building, canteen, central utilities plant, hazardous waste building, water treatment plant, and tank farm. Upon completion, this complex will be able to produce 240,000 vehicles and 270,000 engines annually. The facility’s central utility plant will provide 25,000 tons of air conditioning and 66 kV of power. The chiller system was designed for 14,000 tons of chilled water capacity via seven 2,000-ton capacity chillers. The 14 cooling towers each include variable frequency drives. The piping strategy includes five primary chilled water pumps and multiple secondary variable speed pumps for the site distribution. The engine plant is designed to produce a dust-free environment with precise temperature and humidity controls. The electrical system includes power distribution via 33 kV loop in loop out (LILO) and 100 MVA, and a 220 kV main switchyard. Three central chilled water plants were designed to serve various shops, and the largest plant has a capacity of 14,000 tons. A 22,000 cfm capacity compressed air system was designed to serve the complex. The firm developed a REVIT model for the paint shop for better coordination with a German-based paint system supplier.