Pit Stop for a Refinery – The Turnaround

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These delays cost time and money, but it is possible to compensate for this. Other unpleasant surprises can be much more difficult to deal with. It can be very costly, if a part of equipment is in such bad condition that it unexpectedly needs to be replaced. Nevertheless, the cost of replacing the component is much less than the cost of allowing delayed completion of the turnaround to extend the shutdown period. Therefore, not only meticulous planning and accurate costing, but also flexibility and decisive problem management are essential elements of a successful project profile. There is no room for indecision when millions are at stake.

Zero Tolerance for Compromisein Safety

And absolutely no exceptions are tolerated when safety is involved, and that applies to everyone. Protective clothing, gas detectors and extensive training are part of the standard procedure. Unannounced audits and inspections provide a friendly but firm reminder of the risks and hazards. A refinery is not a plant just like any other. The products and materials present on site are flammable, caustic and harmful to human health.

The future is decided today: Plans for future development are ready and waiting. If the turnaround ends in disappointment, some investment projects will be shelved,” reports t Rainer Gross, head of the Central European Turnaround business at Bilfinger. — (Picture: Nadine Rupp/Bilfinger)

The zero tolerance policy is not limited to work on the construction site. There is no room for error in project management either. For Bilfinger a 30 million euro contract is at stake, and for Q8 and Rotterdam the very future of a site is hanging in the balance. “Plans for future development are ready and waiting. If the turnaround ends in disappointment, some investment projects will be shelved,” reported Gross.

The refinery was built in the 1980’s and there is still no hydrocracker at the site. Hydrocrackers are regarded as state-of-the-art in the petrochemical industry, and they are virtually indispensable for any refinery operator who expects to stay in business over the long term. So what about Rotterdam? “The plans are complete and the construction site has already been selected, but the cracker will only be built if we now produce a successful outcome.” The motor speedway is not the only place where success or failure is decided in the pit stall.

Additional Information

The Project

Turnaround in the European Capital of Oil

Rotterdam is Europe’s most important crude oil transshipment point. Fully loaded supertankers can enter the port which is connected via pipelines to Antwerp and the Ruhr region. 101 million metric tonnes of oil were handled at the port of Rotterdam in 2004. Petrochemical facilities are concentrated in Europoort and Botlek where six harbor basins are reserved for tankers. This is where the Q8 refinery, a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum, is located. Lubricants are the primary products at the refinery (nearly two million barrels a year), but gas, gasoline, diesel fuel, bitumen, sulfur and kerosene are also produced on site. Q8 has around 350 employees in Rotterdam. Bilfinger has been a Q8 service and engineering partner since 2006, and it has been involved in 4 partial shutdowns during that period. A new turnaround strategy was introduced in 2013. Instead of revamping parts of the refinery on a two-year cycle, the decision was made to shut down the entire site every five years for about 2 months to do everything which needs to be done all at once. Both lubricant refining and gasoline production are shut down for maintenance and restarted again.

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A Close-Up on Process Plant Turnarounds

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* The author is a PROCESS journalist.

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Insights in a Refinery Turnaround

Pit Stop for a Refinery – The Turnaround–Challenge

Zero Tolerance for Compromisein Safety