Crude Towers Replacement

LOCATION: North Salt Lake, Utah

TOTAL INSTALLED COST: $800,000

PROJECT SCHEDULE: One Year

An oil refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah, needed to replace and relocate  four processing vessels - a Pre-Flash Crude Tower and three stripper columns.  These vessel replacements would increase production throughput up to 36k bpd. As part of the transition, the company wanted to minimize downtime and accommodate a larger facility for new optimized towers. The existing facility was congested above and below ground and finding an ideal location for these vessels was a critical process.

The project design utilized lidar scanning and modeling to locate the vessels and tie-in points for all piping.  The 3-D model included existing equipment as well as the new vessels and their associated trim, new pipe, pipe supports, pipe racks, pumps, foundations, support piles and underground drainage system.

In addition to the new processing vessels and trays, PSE sized and incorporated new “preflash bottom” and “preflash reboiler” pumps as well as new pipe supports to accommodate the new piping, which ranged from 2” to 12”. The two new pipe bridges included three tiers and spanned over a 100’ with capacity for current and future loads.

New steam supply headers, condensate return piping, steam traps, and steam distribution trees were designed to accommodate the new piping and equipment for freeze protection.

Pipe stress analysis was performed on all new piping, P&ID’s were updated to reflect the new modifications, a line list and tie-in list was created, new equipment foundation drawings, and structural steel drawings were supplied as well as piping isometric drawings and tie-in drawings.

Upon completion of the project, the client said this project went in flawlessly, with no RFI’s needed from the contractor.