Refinery Saves $35,000 Implementing Flow Requirement Solution

A major refinery in the Northwest (with a production capacity of 225,000+ barrels per day) “Fast Tracked” a project to capitalize on receiving Crude Oil supplies via Rail Car from the Oil Boom region in the Dakotas.

 

The customer began construction of a Crude Oil Rail Car Unloading Facility this past summer.  They constructed their own 10,200-foot rail loop on refinery property. The loop would be big enough to hold an entire train of crude-oil tank cars without obstructing an existing railway co. industrial rail spur.

 

The customer had several challenges because of the “Fast Tracking” of this project. They were having an issue with excessive valve noise due to the main crude unloading control valve that their current supplier was offering.  It was not meeting flow and noise requirements that the customer needed. The current valve needed an additional noise attenuation section within the piping to meet the desired noise requirements.  The customer was not happy with their solution.  It was too costly and the lead time that they were given was far beyond the “Fast Tracking” timing of the project.

 

Valin’s technical specialists worked closely with the refinery to ensure that we would be given consideration on this project.  The project engineer attended a Metso Valve Training and Industry Networking Session that Valin hosted in Bellingham, WA.  The project engineer was familiar with the Metso Q Trim Valve and was very accepting of our Metso solution over the current valve solution.

 

One of Valin’s Valve Application Engineer’s, based in Portland, OR, was instrumental in our success in receiving this order.  He worked closely with the customer on the specification, sizing and application of this valve to make sure it would meet the customer’s needs. Valin had the expertise needed to address the various flow calculations and specifications of this valve.

 

The Neles Q-Trim Segment Ball Valve includes attenuator plates built into the segment.  As the valve opens, the Q-Trim is mostly perpendicular to the flow, providing greatest noise reduction at small valve openings where pressure drop is highest. As flow requirements increase and pressure drop falls, the valve opens further and the Q-Trim plates rotate to be parallel with the flow. This minimizes flow restriction when there is less need for noise reduction.

 

Our ability to quickly analyze each new scenario and document the performance of our products gave the customer peace of mind that we would be able to deliver what we claimed. We contacted Metso and received a firm quote to deliver the valve with two months to spare. In fact, we have already shipped the valve with a gear operator so they can use it manually if necessary, while we wait for their plant-standard REXA electro-hydraulic actuator to ship next month.

 

With Valin’s engineering expertise and collaborative teamwork we were able to save the refinery over $35,000 and were able to meet their timeline.