Replacement of burners at a refinery

Project Execution

Work performed directly
on-site.

Another project, this time in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The flare stack stood 120 meters tall and was equipped with two large flare tips and one small flare tip. Because the flare stack was located in the middle of the facility—and the refinery had only a limited window for a total plant shutdown—it was not possible to position a large crane to carry out the work at the top.

Consequently, we performed all lifting operations using a winch and a specialized structural setup. The project required extensive work within a confined space, which included: inspecting all flare tips, and dismantling the smallest flare tip (along with its monoseal) before lowering it to the ground for cleaning and inspection. Following a 100% inspection, the tip was lifted back into position and subsequently reinstalled.

We also carried out the removal of old paint from the monoseals (via grinding) and cleaned them, followed by painting both large monoseals. Tasks included NDT inspections of the top plates of the tips and the thickness of the monoseals, extensive welding repairs to the top plates and the steam pipe bracket, replacement of wind shields and small burners on each tip, electrical work, internal cleaning of the monoseals, and purging of all piping. Opening the monoseals for cleaning brought a minor surprise: we had expected to find only a small quantity of the Pall rings used in the process.

Instead of just a few Pall rings, we removed 14 large bags' worth. Once again, we received excellent support from the Filipino crew from the company’s flare repair division. The project was completed in 12 working days.

This project was carried out in collaboration with www.expertindus.com.