Case Study

Installation of New Sour Water Stripper (SWS) Reboiler System

Challenge:

A large refinery client was in need of a team with the capabilities to execute a fast track project to debottleneck the refinery during gasoline season without compromising safety. The project involved interconnecting piping which included heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO) from the crude unit to the new sour water stripper (SWS) reboiler in the refinery’s sulfur recovery unit (SRU).

Solution:

Valdes assembled a multi-disciplined team comprised of piping designers, instrumentation and electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, and structural/civil engineers to fully detail all aspects of the installation for the new SWS reboiler. Valdes provided detail designs and on-site project management for the installation of the new reboiler, underground sewer piping and the HVGO supply and return piping to the reboiler from the crude unit, including a control valve station and a manual bypass of the reboiler bundle. Additionally, Valdes fully detailed the interconnecting piping between the existing SWS tower and the new reboiler.

Impact:

Valdes contributed 10,470 hours in support of this project, which was planned and executed so that start-up occurred one month earlier than originally planned. This made it possible for the refinery to capture part of the gasoline season that wasn't planned for with an added-value of $5 million.