One of the Gulf’s leading contractors, Gulf Housing & Construction, has increased its fleet of Atlas Copco portable air compressors with the delivery of six new XAS 186 units and a further 10 planned for later this year.

And another Qatar company, Doha Petroleum Construction Co, recently took delivery of a new Atlas Copco XAMS 376, standardising its expanding fleet of air compressors with Atlas Copco.
“We need to have access to reliable compressors both in our workshop and on site,” says Varghese Mathew, purchase controller at Doha Petroleum Construction Co. “We also looked at the capacity and performance of the unit when we decided to continue standardising with Atlas Copco compressors.”
Ordered through local distributor Oriental Trading Co, the XAMS 376 delivers 400 l/s actual free air at 8.6 bar effective working pressure for sandblasting duties at Doha Petroleum Construction’s extensive workshop and fabrication facilities on the outskirts of Doha.
The compressor features an electronic control panel displaying full operating and diagnostic data for ease of supervision and reduced downtime. It is powered by a Caterpillar six-cylinder diesel engine, rated at 187 kW.
The Atlas Copco XAMS 376 is located outside the sandblasting and painting workshop with the main feed passing through the wall to a receiver tank. Several outlets then serve the sandblasting operation. The expansion at Gulf Housing & Construction follows a great construction boom being witnessed in Qatar.
The Doha-based company fabricates its own building and construction elements at its plant on an industrial area just outside Doha. Material used in the building and construction projects, such as steel, is brought in, cut and fabricated into specified measurements, then sandblasted to remove any corrosion, primed, painted and transported to the building projects for assembly.
To drive the sandblasting, the company is using an Atlas Copco XAS 186, one of its fleet of 30 Atlas Copco portable air compressors.
The XAS 186 is designed for heavy duty in tough environments, featuring an oil-injected, rotary screw compressor. Driven by a Deutz engine, the compressor delivers 185 l/s with a 7 bar effective work pressure.
Six Atlas Copco XAS 186 units were delivered late last year and a further 10 units are planned for 2006. The company has a policy of regularly selling its old equipment and replacing it with new units. However, over the last year’s surge in building and construction, the company has increased its total volume of Atlas Copco units. It has also decided to keep its older machines a little longer to meet the increased business.
 S Bhattacharyya, plant manager at Gulf Housing & Construction, praised the quality of Atlas Copco machines.
“Our 30-unit Atlas Copco fleet is widely used throughout the company. To optimise their use, all machines are constantly moved between jobs to maximise fleet utilisation. They are virtually used as ‘jack-of-all-trades’ in a wide variety of applications.”
The compressors, ranging in size from 298 cf/min to 900 cf/min, are used primarily to drive pneumatic tools such as jackhammers and sand-blasting equipment.
“We are concentrating on equipment that fulfils a high technical level and quality as there is a constant risk for overloading when on a site. The temptation to hang on yet another jackhammer is sometimes too big,” says Bhattacharyya.
“By specialising with a few suppliers, we also reduce our spare parts inventory and can focus on high service competence amongst our service staff,” the official explains, adding the company received very good support from the local dealer.