Vicoma was approached by Gunvor Energy Rotterdam in November 2018 to engineer a number of projects related to the 2020 Turn Around. For this they were looking for a party to perform the FEED and Detail Engineering in the areas of Process, Piping, Mechanical, CSA and E&I. They also asked Vicoma if we could also provide support in purchasing, inspection and expediting.
Project: ready for the big turnaround in a year and a half
It was quite a challenge to get everything ready for the turnaround in 2020 within the tight timeframe of eighteen months. Within this time, our engineers had to get the FEED, Detail Engineering, procurement, manufacturing of the necessary piping, Long Lead Items and Tag items done. This requires commitment, involvement and flexibility of our engineers and the customer. Short lines of communication are essential. Also, a good planning is necessary that must be followed closely. In order to stay on schedule, some activities have therefore been brought forward, such as the installation of pipes in the pipe bridge and the renewal of two storage tanks for paraffin. This allowed us to minimise work during the Turn Around.
Vicoma’s role: from engineering to procurement
The time pressure posed some challenges, but we did not shy away from them. For this project Vicoma started with the FEED and making the specifications of the Long Lead items. These have a long delivery time and had to be ordered first so they could be delivered on time. This included equipment such as tanks, vessels, columns, heat exchangers and pumps. After approving the FEED and the specifications of the Long Lead items, Vicoma took care of the procurement process – requests, evaluations and orders – for this equipment. Our engineers also coordinated and performed the inspection and expediting for this. For the official inspections we worked together with certified inspectors of 3P Quality Services, an independent inspection agency. In the meantime we have continued with the Detail Engineering and taking care of the specifications of the Tagged items. Vicoma also requested, evaluated and ordered this equipment.
Result: good planning and cooperation gives confidence
Due to good planning, a flexible attitude and pleasant cooperation between Gunvor, the suppliers and Vicoma, all equipment and engineering was delivered on time. We can therefore look back with satisfaction on the result so far. The only thing left to do is to execute the Turn Around properly. Although the coronavirus is now causing delays, we are confident that the implementation will also yield the desired result for our customer Gunvor. In any case, the involvement of all employees will not be lacking.
