Case Study

Cooling Tower Replacement

Challenge:

A large refinery client had a Cooling Water Tower (CWT) that was at end of life. The CWT needed to be rebuilt to maintain its original performance and ensure long-term reliability. Valdes guided the client in exploring their options, including the rental of a temporary tower or running with existing towers in operation with strategically-placed piping. The second option was ultimately selected.

Solution:

Valdes then worked with client’s operations, maintenance and engineering staff to develop a plan to de-energize, demolish, and replace the CWT. This required a detailed understanding of how each unit operated so other towers could support operations. A detailed hydraulic model was created to identify all users (~15 units) for the cooling towers and switchover and switchback procedures were developed to allow full load shift to other towers during replacement without operational interruption. Valdes also provided engineering protocols (EP) and strong field support.

Impact:

Valdes’ design and ability to identify several front-end options allowed for our client to avoid cooling tower rental equipment, saving our client $5MM. Lean planning methodologies and rigorous communication resulted in construction being completed two days ahead of the baseline schedule and under budget.