22-10-2019
544 tons naphtha splitter successfully relocated to Ras Tanura
Ras Tanura Refinery Clean Fuels Project has placed its heaviest and largest piece of equipment — a naphtha splitter column weighing 544 tons.
It took approximately three hours to complete the lift of this 65-meter high column after six weeks of site preparation and crane positioning.
After six weeks of site preparation and crane positioning, it took only three hours to complete the lift of the 65-meter high column.
For the lift, a 1,600 ton main crane was utilized together with a tailing crane with a total nominal capacity of 600 tons. The 8-meter-diameter column required extensive coordination during transportation. This included disconnecting several overhead power cables to allow for safe passage and modifying the Jubail-Dhahran highway to avoid bridges.
Three weeks from source to site
The total transport from Jubail to the project site at the refinery was alternated between day and night to minimize community disruptions. It took three weeks from source to site, with more than 10 stops along the way.
The column is the main feeder to the new world’s largest Continuous Catalytic Reforming (CCR) and Isomerization Units, with a total operating capacity of 90,000 and 65,000 barrels per day, respectively. The main function of the naphtha splitter column is to split the hydrotreated naphtha into light and heavy naphtha, which is a key function to the Naphtha Hydrotreating Unit, as it controls the benzene precursors, which are then sent to the Isomerization Unit.
The objective is to prepare the feeds to downstream units to meet the acceptable level of the impurities in the feed to the new CCR and Isomerization Units.
The splitter column has been awarded to a local manufacturing company in Jubail as part of the iktva program, which is targeting 70% localization by 2021. The complete manufacturing of the column took more than a year, achieving more than 2,500 safe working hours.
The project will provide facilities to support Saudi Aramco’s corporate objective of effectively supplying diesel and gasoline products that comply with the future Saudi Aramco gasoline and diesel quality specifications, as per Euro-V fuels quality standards. The new naphtha complex plants that will be installed as part of the project at the refinery, are comprised of a 138 MBD naphtha hydrotreater, a 90 MBD CCR Unit, and a 65 MBD Isomerization Unit.
News Category:
-
Beyond processbook & PI vision: Exploring today’s industrial analytics tools
(Webinar) - In the Manufacturing 4.0 era, industrial organizations have more data at their fingertips than ever, offering the promise of higher production rates, more ...
04-06-2024
-
Worley awarded Bayou Bend CCS carbon capture and storage facility contract
We’ve been selected to design and evaluate CO2 gathering, handling and sequestration facilities located along the Gulf Coast in Southeast Texas. Bayou Bend ...
13-05-2024
-
Black & Veatch delivers feasibility study for Andes Energy LNG Terminal
Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure solutions leader Black & Veatch has completed a feasibility study for the planned Andes Energy Terminal, LNG regasification ...
09-05-2024
-
Shell to sell interest in Singapore Energy and Chemicals Park to CAPGC
Shell Singapore Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Shell plc, has reached an agreement to sell its Energy and Chemicals Park in Singapore to CAPGC Pte. Ltd., a joint venture company ...
08-05-2024
-
Integrated Global Services recognized for role in mega turnaround
Integrated Global Services has been recognized as a major contributor to the successful Ras Tanura Refinery 2024 Mega Turnaround and Inspection for Saudi Arabian Energy ...
08-05-2024
-
BASF invests in capacity expansion of Basoflux® range of paraffin inhibitors
BASF plans to expand the global production capacity of its Basoflux® range of paraffin inhibitors at its site in Tarragona, Spain. This investment will enable BASF’s ...
07-05-2024
-
Ebara Elliott Energy to provide compressor for SAF project in Thailand
Ebara Elliott Energy, formerly Elliott Group, announces it has been contracted to provide a motor-driven recycle compressor with a variable frequency drive (VFD) for ...
07-05-2024
-
ETH Zurich select hte to provide high throughput test system designed for CO2 electroreduction
hte – the high throughput experimentation company was awarded a contract by the technical university ETH Zurich to provide a high throughput test system designed for ...
07-05-2024
-
TotalEnergies and Sinopec strengthen cooperation
On the occasion of the state visit to France by the President of the People's Republic of China, TotalEnergies, represented by Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO, and ...
07-05-2024
-
IPP enters agreement to market ammonia, methanol and melamine plants in Ludwigshafen
BASF and International Process Plants (IPP), a global leader in the acquisition and sale of process plants and equipment, have entered an agreement to market ammonia, ...
06-05-2024