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After seven years standing idle, Ras Tanura Fractionation Plant No. 40 recently was recommissioned by RT Refinery employees. Plant 40 was built in 1975 with a capacity of 50,000 barrels per day. It was mothballed in 1998 because of weak demand at the time. Engineers and technicians even then paved the way for an efficient recommissioning by taking all steps necessary to protect it from corrosion and the damage that could cause.
Ras Tanura Refinery Operations manager Ibrahim K. Al-Naimi said this planning greatly contributed to the plant's cost-effective de-mothballing this year.
During the project, more than 4,000 work assignments were completed. Forty-three heat exchangers/ fin fans were re-tubed; 18 vessels and six surface distillation tower columns of between 10 and 100 meters in length were opened for inspection and testing; 260 piping circuits were inspected and fixed; 6,700 meters of power cables were replaced and 46 motors and pumps were overhauled, in addition to many other jobs that were required for the safe commissioning of a plant that had been shut off for seven years. All the work was done in accordance with company engineering criteria and standards.
After the project was completed, senior executives paid visits to Ras Tanura to inspect the work and commend those involved, including Abdallah S. Jum'ah, president and CEO, and Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, senior vice president of Refining, Marketing and International.
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