Saudi petrochem plant avoids technical downtime
Posted: 22 October 2007
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Technical services provider Furmanite has averted downtime for Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Company (Yanpet) during a technical snag, a statement from the company said.
Yanpet, one of the world’s largest petrochemical facilities, underwent a malfunctioning safety relief valve recently and was successfully repaired on-line by Furmanite, without disrupting production.
According to a statement, the PSV valve on a turbine extraction line header was found to have popped at 2280KPa and was not closing properly, despite dropping the line pressure.
In conjunction with Yanpet, Furmanite carried out a job safety analysis, identifying potential causes of the problem (including incorrect blowdown settings, a trapped particle between disc and seat, and a loss of spring tension), and discussing and recording the necessary courses of action and corresponding safety measures for each scenario in detail.
An isolation method to enable this steam line PSV valve to be replaced would have taken time, with the valve remaining open in the meantime resulting in high noise pollution, loss of production, and a risk of damage to other parts due to the excessive vibration caused.
Instead, Furmanite’s Trevitest on-line valve testing was used.
Following trials to confirm the problem, Furmanite applied its Trevitest technology to adjust the spring tension and reseat the PSV valve, after which the valve reverted to normal opening and closing functions. A final on-line test using Trevitest was undertaken for certification.
The Yanpet petrochemical complex in Madinat Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah, Saudi Arabia , is a 50-50 joint venture between Sabic and ExxonMobil. It produces more than 1.6 million tonnes of ethylene and more than 2 million tonnes of derivative products annually.
Furmanite, which recently opened a Middle East office in Bahrain , was awarded a certificate of appreciation from Yanpet for its performance and quality of service. |
