Air Products’ flexibility of supply on petrochemical facility shutdown wins accolades from A. Hak
South African industrial and specialty gas products and chemicals company, Air Products, recently played a pivotal role by supplying liquid nitrogen to A. Hak Industrial Services for the scheduled maintenance shutdown a leading petrochemical facility.
A. Hak Industrial Services is the leading industrial services supplier to the petrochemical industry in South Africa. One of the services it offers its blue chip clients is high volume nitrogen pumping. “This methodology has many uses, from purging and displacing product in pipelines, to plant shutdown operations, where our pump units are used to supplement the on-site nitrogen supply to reduce the turnaround time,” says Stuart Baigent, Project Engineer (Sales) at A. Hak Industrial Services.
Working together with the gas (nitrogen) suppliers, A. Hak coordinates shutdown purging and displacement activities to ensure a continuous operation and gas free environment prior to commencement of mechanical works. The same principle applies during the plant start-up operation. A.Hak’s units are frequently used for pressure testing, drying, purging and leak testing operations.
During the annual maintenance shutdown for its regular client last year, A. Hak Industrial Services was called on to provide an atypically large volume of gaseous nitrogen. “This request was due to the fact that instead of shutting down only one of the two sections – East and West – at the plant, the petrochemical facility decided to concurrently shut down both sections,” says Baigent.
“The petrochemical facility uses gaseous nitrogen to remove the hydrocarbons in the high pressure system in the plant to ensure the safety of the maintenance workers on site. In a nutshell, nitrogen is an inert gas that displaces air to greatly reduce the risk of ignition and subsequent fires or explosions,” Baigent explains.
“The complete plant shutdown resulted in the demand for gaseous nitrogen far exceeding the volumes available on site. We were requested by the petrochemical facility to project manage the supply of additional nitrogen in order to meet the on site requirements,” says Baigent.
“Our scope of work included the supply of two purpose built nitrogen pump and vaporiser units fed from a temporary nitrogen storage facility erected at the pumping location in the Plant he says. In addition, A. Hak was responsible for sourcing the liquid nitrogen from three suppliers; providing storage for on-site nitrogen; and coordinating the daily nitrogen deliveries to ensure a constant availability of 10 000 Nm3/hour to be fed into the high pressure header and maintained at a pressure of 28 to 33 bar. “We approached three nitrogen suppliers, including Air Products, to provide us with both the liquid nitrogen as well as the specified storage vessels. Air Products went out of their way to accommodate all our requirements and in fact were responsible for supplying product well in excess of our initial discussions. In addition, they were the only supplier that was prepared to provide the requisite storage vessels,” says Baigent.
Of the three suppliers, Air Products was initially requested to supply 60% of all liquid nitrogen for the project. The final supply ratio exceeded this by 10%, with a total contribution of 310 tons. “Air Products also supplied three pre-filled vacuum insulated evaporator (VIE) storage tanks which were essential for ensuring a constant supply of nitrogen around the clock. The team moved these storage tanks on to site on 16 August. The vessels then underwent the appropriate testing in preparation for the commencement of Phase 1 of the shutdown on 24 August,” says Baigent.
The second phase of the shutdown, which involved the start-up of the plant, commenced on 10 September and ended on 17 September. “During this period the gaseous flow rate requirements were drastically reduced and thus the sense of urgency was alleviated,” says Baigent. Baigent says that the level of commitment and flexibility exhibited by Air Products has resulted in the company now being officially declared a preferred supplier to A. Hak.
“The service provided by the Air Products team was superb. A dedicated coordinator ensured that all our demands were met with grace and speed. Their ability to react quickly to our changing needs was exemplary and where we are in a position to select our own supplier, Air Products will be our first choice going forward.” “We were impressed by the consistent feedback from Air Products, their can-do attitude and by the way they exceeded our over all expectations,” Baigent concludes.
Published on October 11, 2011 in Air Products News |