SCHWEDT, GERMANY
Summary
- Heat exchanger required repair work in a crude oil refinery
- 4" carbon steel water cooling line
- Located 15 meters off the ground
- Three installers took 1.5 hours to fit the valve
Located in Schwedt on the River Oder, PCK Raffinerie GmbH is one of the largest refineries in the region. It processes 12 million metric tons of crude oil a year which is turned into diesel fuel, petrol, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, heating oils and bitumen. PCK was one of the first refineries in Germany to use biofuels and is a leading producer of high-quality biofuel components.
When the refinery operators identified the need for repairs to a heat exchanger, they needed to isolate the equipment and were faced with the added challenge of the cooling water line which fed the exchanger, being 15 meters off the floor.
They called in their service partner, the Bardenhagen Group for assistance and they in turn, called in their engineering partner MMZ. After learning more about the situation, it was decided to use the AVT EZ Valve to resolve the issue as it was the ideal option for isolating the exchanger enabling the repair work to take place.
A team of three Bardenhagen and MMZ operatives worked with AVT experts to install the 4” AVT EZ Valve on the carbon steel line and despite it being the first time the team had installed an EZ Valve, they successfully completed the job in just an hour and a half. A team of 10 Bardenhagen and MMZ installers had previously accessed AVT’s innovate online training curriculum and received face to face training. The team is now certified to install AVT EZ Valves in the future and can call on AVT experts for advice and guidance whenever required.
AVT’s Sales Director, Shawn Petty, assisted with the training and install. He said: “Working at height was not an issue for the AVT EZ Valve install equipment including the EM (end milling) machine. It is specifically designed to be lightweight and mobile to cater for just such occasions. The team from Bardenhagen and MMZ were very focused and learnt quickly the skills required to install AVT EZ Valves.”
The installation and use of EZ-Valve was the most effective solution for PCK to work on the line under pressure.
