Equipment breaks. Units wear out. Every component at a chemical plant or refinery has a lifespan and will need to be replaced one day. Sometimes this happens conveniently during a planned outage, but most of the time it is unplanned and causes your operation to come to a screeching halt.
In both instances, a quick solution is imperative, particularly if the unit is in critical path, where every minute the unit is down costs the company time and money and becomes a potential safety hazard. Projects to remove and replace equipment -- R&R projects -- require precision and efficient solutions to get a plant back on line quickly and safely.
It's not always an easy task. Aging refineries have increased capacity and in the process have gotten more congested and complex. Their footprint hasn't grown, so they build higher. Components get buried behind structural components and other obstacles.
Even relatively newer chemical plants have a finite footprint, so when they expand or upgrade, they also expand vertically. The need to have access to components that would eventually have to be replaced is largely overlooked.
Since R&R projects can be complex, it's important to choose your team early and ensure they have the capabilities and tools for the project. The old saying, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail," applies here. If the company you select only has a few tools, its options for removing and replacing your equipment are limited. But a company with a vast inventory of equipment is able to choose from a variety of possible approaches.
Tools are only as good as the plan and the boots on the ground. It helps if you've got a team that has years of experience with these types of projects -- a team backed by engineers (I call them "guerilla brains") who figure out how to make the seemingly impossible possible.
In every R&R project, safety is a consideration. After all, you're removing heavy components from tight and congested spaces. There are obstacles or other issues to navigate, including pipe racks, structural components and underground utilities.
You and your team should put together a plan that mitigates risks while making sure no new ones are created. For example, instead of enlisting a crane and a large team of field craft to remove a tower, if you can access your unit using an innovative tool like a cantilever system, your team may shrink to a couple of riggers. This approach not only reduces labor costs but also eliminates the potential safety risk to that larger team of workers.
Early involvement in an R&R project is sometimes a luxury. In a project in Texas, a specialized rigging company was hired to remove a heat exchanger on the ground level. The client had initially chosen to use a cantilever beam on a crane hook, but discovered that wasn't an option. Traditional methods of removal weren't viable due to a narrow aisle.
Called in on a Friday, the hired company immediately began to collaborate with the plant team and, together with the "guerilla brains," had a proposed solution by Saturday morning. The team pieced together different components from its equipment arsenal and created a unique piece of machinery it called the "M1A1 tank" that essentially resembled an army tank.
The team was able to get the M1A1 into the narrow aisle and "crabbed in" until the old exchanger shell could be reached and removed. The new shell was replaced, and the client was ready to restart the unit. The team assembled and mobilized the equipment and performed the work in less than 36 hours.
On your next R&R project, consider choosing a team that has a track record of successful projects, plus a vast inventory of tools and engineering know-how. Check out their safety record to increase the likelihood of a successful project.
For more information, contact Terry Tarpley at ttarpley@barnhartcrane.com.
