Emerson Exchange 365

Wojciech Szachta of Grupa LOTOS explained how they prepared for a maintenance shutdown in 2013 at the Gdańsk refinery in Poland. Grupa LOTOS is the second largest refinery in Poland following an investment programme that was completed in 2010.

Turnarounds were scheduled every four years and these took place in 2009 when the refinery capacity was 6 mtp/year and again in 2013 when the refinery capacity had increased to 10,5 mtp/year. The next turnaround will be in 2018 when Grupa LOTOS will be using the experiences gained in 2013 to improve planning and execution. This will ensure that the best practices are being followed to maintain the highest international standards of reliability and availability of the production facilities.

The scope of the project included all necessary repairs, equipment replacement, and cleaning the interior vessels, exchangers and pipelines. During the turnaround, knowledge is gathered about the technical condition of equipment to enable planning for continued operation. The main goals are to complete the work in accordance with the schedule with zero accidents and also ensure a smooth start-up.

The three-phase project started 18 months in advance of the maintenance shut-down and used preventive diagnostics to exclude unnecessary repairs and minimise shutdown workload. Spare parts were ordered one year in advance and a critical schedule was developed that covered contractors’ work schedules, plans for the organisation of work, and risk analysis. Freezing the scope of repair six months before a shut-down ensured a cut-off point for equipment. During the 2013 turnaround, the whole refinery was shut-down for 43 days and the time without crude oil treatment was 23 days.

Valves to be repaired were selected based on their type and application, for example, critical and important valves, valves without by-pass, and valves that had previously caused problems - these totalled 686 units. The main contractor for the project was Grupa LOTOS Service.

Szachta explained that Grupa LOTOS used maintenance support from Emerson, who provided service and workshop skills. This worked well and will be extended for the 2018 shutdown. Emerson delivered all the parts that might be needed for the valve overhauls, as agreed during the planning phase. This ensured that there were no delays waiting for spare parts should they be required.

Parts availability is critical for ongoing maintenance and Grupa LOTOS use Emerson’s Fisher Installed Base Tool. This makes it easy to order spares based on the serial number or tag number of the valve.

Based on the experiences of the 2013 turnaround, in 2018, Grupa LOTOS will be using more digital positioners with advanced diagnostics to check the status of the valves. Diagnostics can be used to detect damage to the internal components of the valve, evaluate the friction seals, and check the accuracy of the valve and its sensitivity. By using digital valve controllers, in 2018 only valves that really need to be repaired will be targeted, enabling the total number removed from service to stay the same.