Specialist Dust and Fume Extraction Installed at a leading UK Oil Refinery During Repair Works

Product Overview

The oil refinery is situated in the North of England and is one of Europe’s largest plants. The refinery is well known for its production of aviation fuel but it also supplies more than a sixth of the UK’s road transport fuel. One of the oil refinery's main objectives is to promote employee health and wellbeing, and it has a belief that it can operate without workers experiencing injuries or incidents, despite the often difficult working conditions in which they operate. There are many dangers of working within an oil refinery, including the risk of explosion, being exposed to dangerous gases or chemicals, and skin burns. To control these risks, the oil refinery undertakes regular inspections and repairs of assets to ensure that the refinery is always safe to operate in.

Challenge

A Regular Shutdown was planned to inspect, repair and improve the Catalytic Cracker Unit (CCU), a major project based on a critical plant within the refinery. Workers needed to break out refractory linings within the CCU which were covered with coke, a solid carbon deposit created as a by-product of a catalytic cracking process. Breaking the coke would create harmful dust and put the maintenance team at risk. Coke dust poses the risk of causing a pulmonary illness in people who inhale excessive quantities of it.

Workers also needed to inspect, grind and weld new material within the CCU to complete the upgrade project, which would create additional airborne
contaminants, including harmful welding fumes. Before work could start, it was important to identify the hazards associated with the project, evaluate the risks and decide the best hazard control measures. Previously used air quality systems left room for improvement, and it was important to avoid ‘designing a solution on the run’, which can be ineffective and cause disruption to the progress of a project. The oil refinery endeavoured to find a highly efficient hazard control solution to keep all workers safe.

Solution

RVT designed an effective solution and sent experienced LEV professionals to site to set up the hazard control systems and work alongside the site team throughout the project. Firstly, after shutdown of the plant and before personnel could enter the CCU, cool air needed to be forced into the Stripper Unit. This was to reduce the extremely high air temperature to a safe level at which personnel entry could be permitted. RVT's Ventex® 450S Centrifugal Fans were installed to supply high volumes of fresh air into the Stripper Unit to cool down the work area. By using RVT's extremely powerful fans which can move up to 20,400 m3/ hr free air over long distances, it reduced the project timeline by two days, because work could start sooner than anticipated.

Secondly, harmful coke dust created during breaking out was captured at source using RVT's ATEX certified Ventex® 300M Centrifugal Fans and Dustex® D4 ATEX Extractor. The D4 unit was connected to a distributor box with multiple spigot connections, allowing the team to extract dust from multiple locations simultaneously. Lastly, fumes created during welding and grinding were effectively managed using Ravex® Portable Welding Fume Filtration Units and Ventex® 300M Centrifugal Fans, which were easy to move around site as work progressed using the unit's convenient carry handle. Both dust and fume hazards were extracted away from the work area over long distances, through small bore hoses at very high pressure and safely filtered, protecting workers and anyone within the vicinity.

RVT's technicians on site were responsible for keeping all equipment operational, regularly checking the equipment for effectiveness, moving and changing the set-up as work progressed, whilst ensuring optimal performance was achieved at all times. Each ‘kit’ that was setup for the extraction and filtration of weld fumes, dust from wrecking or fresh air supply, was tested by a qualified engineer. RVT provided the oil refinery with commissioning reports, which demonstrated effectiveness during the project and also acted as evidence that adequate controls were provided during the project. RVT also established an operational hub on site where essential maintenance equipment and spare parts such as filters and ducting were stored. At the end of the project, RVT dismantled and removed all equipment from site, providing the client with a complete
360 service.