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Downtime That Isn’tFor a petrochemical plant, downtime is the period of time when it is taken out of operation, InspecTeD, anD repaIreD. it’s actually a very busy time on the plant grounds, and the number of workers increases to many times that of the regular team – because the clock is ticking.

T he plant runs day and night, 365 days a year. The system of pipes and reactors, boilers and tanks

is so complicated that you can’t simply shut down a petrochemical plant over the weekend in order to carry out main-tenance work. That’s why there are sched-uled major shutdowns, called “turn-arounds,” for inspections and repairs. These are complex tasks characterized by many different process steps. Because there are a vastly greater number of tem-porary workers on the plant grounds than during normal operation, these projects are extremely demanding in terms of oc-cupational safety. The Dow Olefinverbund GmbH site in Böhlen, Germany, success-fully completed such a major shutdown in spring 2010. The petrochemical plant

comprises a cracker and other production plants. It is supplied via a 430 kilometer-long pipeline running from the Port of Rostock, where tankers unload the naph-tha, to Böhlen.

a Herculean task – with every detail meticulously planned

Here on the 350 hectare site outside Leipzig the naphtha is split into its fun-damental chemical components ethylene and propylene. Chemical products such as aniline, acrylates, aromatics, butadiene, styrene, and hydrocarbon resins are also produced. These are used to make not only various plastics, but also paints, adhesives, and other petroleum-based products. The Dow Olefinverbund company produces the lion’s share of these products itself.

When the refinery is due for inspectionThe five-year inspection cycle for petrochemical plants and refineries in germany is largely a product of the ordinance on industrial Safety and Health. The Federal emission Control Act and the major Accidents ordinance also specify key requirements for the inspections. The ordinance on industrial Safety and Health implements euro pean Directive 97/23/eC (Pressure equipment Directive) in national law. There are often also individual orders for inspections requested by the operator, who prepares for the inspection with the shutdown. The inspection, which is performed by experts from the technical inspection association TÜv, for example, includes function tests of safety systems, visual inspections, and pressure and leak-tightness tests. Non-destructive techniques are used to check the internal condition of solid components. endoscopy is also used in areas with restricted accessibility. inspection companies such as TÜv SÜD sometimes deploy more than 30 engineers for major inspection and overhaul projects. “we conduct inspections like these worldwide, not just in refineries and comparable facilities in germany,” says Peter Keilhofer of TÜv SÜD industrie Service gmbH, Depart - ment of Steam and Pressure engineering in regensburg, germany. >

Carrying out a controlled shutdown of a plant this size, which is then inspected, maintained, and restarted, is a Herculean task for which every minute detail must be meticulously planned. Reiko Hass, the Shutdown Manager at the Böhlen site, re-cently accomplished exactly this task to-gether with the members of his team. The shutdown of seven production plants and three infrastructure segments for a total of 50 days was necessary to perform a plant inspection, which is required every five years under German law (see box “When the refinery is due for inspection”).

“The shutdown is both a challenge and an opportunity, because cleaning, maintenance, and repair work can also be performed once production has come to a stop,” explains Hass. The same ap-plies for reconfiguration or expansion work to modernize parts of the plant. Em-pirical evidence shows that the statutory inspection of the facilities, comprising a visual inspection and strength testing by means of a variety of methods, accounts for only around 20 percent of the work performed. Servicing, expansion work, and repairs, on the other hand, account for 80 percent. “We leverage substantial synergy effects if we combine the statu-tory inspection with maintenance,” ex-plains the mechanical engineer.

All of the workflows making up the turnaround are recorded in a painstak-ingly planned schedule. In this way, it is possible to keep track of everything that is done. According to Hass, preparations for the turnaround begin a good 18 months in advance. This includes planning for occupational health and safety as well as

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Servicing a petrochemical plant requires planning, expertise, and – when performed at great heights or in cramped spaces – courage.

they know what they’re doing: Maximum concentration during the deployment briefing, for maximum safety.

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environmental protection, logistics, and the actual inspection and repair work it-self, of course. Roughly 3,100 work orders pertained to just the cracker, in which long-chain carbons are split into carbons with a short chain length.

About 25,000 pre-entry measurements

The scope of the project is also reflected in the number of people who were in ac-tion on the grounds during this period. During normal operation, there are around 600 workers at the Böhlen site. During this major shutdown, these were joined by more than 2,500 external spe-cialists. “During these periods of peak ac-tivity, occupational safety must be the top priority,” stresses Mathias Preißler, who

is responsible for environmental protec-tion and occupational health and safety at the Böhlen site.

A good 25,000 pre-entry measure-ments were therefore taken exactly ac-cording to plan, using portable gas de-tection technology. This generally meant taking pre-entry measurements over-night, beginning at around 3:00 a.m., which enabled the Dow staff and the em-ployees of the third-party companies to be-gin with their contracted work punctually at the start of the work day.

These measurements were performed by Dräger Shutdown & Rental Manage-ment. “Altogether, more than 140 of our own employees were involved in the shut-down,” says Michael von Gahlen, Dräger Project Manager for the turnaround. A

wide range of tasks had to be performed, one of which involved continuous moni-toring of the job sites by safety monitors and the setting up of a safety shop (see box “A very special shop”). Gahlen explains that the portfolio of services concerning shutdown management has existed since 2001. Most of the shutdown projects han-dled by Dräger are currently in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

The 2010 turnaround in Böhlen was the largest order to date for Dräger. Gahlen says that orders of this magni-tude represent the top segment of turn-arounds. Among the things for which Dräger was responsible were pre-entry measurements for more than 1,000 ves-sels. Their contents had been drained so that workers could enter them to per-form inspection and maintenance work. At moments like these, the hazard poten-tial is just as high as when the vessels are completely full. The mixture of gases or vapors with the ambient air can cause the substance in question to reach a criti-cal concentration between the lower and the upper explosive limits. Dräger’s port-folio therefore also includes explosion-proof ventilation technology.

Hot and cramped or high and windy

“Safety management for major shut-downs involves a lot more than just mon-itoring substance concentrations,” says Gahlen. It’s more a matter of the joint performance of comprehensive occupa-tional safety checks throughout the en-tire project. For instance, Dräger safety experts accompanied the workers as they

A very special shopA one-stop shop for safety, with modern equipment and good service. That’s the concept behind the offer from Dräger Shutdown & rental management to set up a rental and service station (safety shop) for major shutdowns and comparable projects. The shop supplies all the workers involved in the turnaround with large amounts of safety equipment around the clock. in böhlen, this offer comprised a total of more than 50,000 items.

The 168-page catalogue of rental equipment spans the entire range of hardware and services, including portable gas detectors and units for sector monitoring, respiratory protection equipment, communication technology, fire protection equipment, personal protective equipment, and much more. According to michael von gahlen, Head of opera-tions at Dräger, the flexible configuration of the service is a key advantage for the customer. if additional equipment not included in the original planning should suddenly be required, Dräger procures it immediately. “The rental business is much more economical for the customer than keeping equipment and personnel on hand itself for sporadic major projects,” says gahlen.

>

More than 140 Dräger experts ensure that the shutdown is completed safely and on schedule

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performed all critical tasks during the turnaround in Böhlen, including work in cramped spaces or at great heights, but also hot work, such as welding, part-ing, or grinding.

“We’re not there to point the finger at anyone,” stresses Gahlen. Ultimately both sides benefit from the close cooper-ation between the monitors and the per-sonnel deployed during the turnaround. The workers can rely on a uniformly high level of occupational safety with clearly defined structures, while the coopera-tion with a single partner for safety man-

agement offers the customer clear pro-cesses and a transparent organization. Not all the persons involved are always aware of the need for monitoring and for strict compliance with safety rules. There’s only one way for the Dräger project manager to improve such a sit-uation: Good communication skills on the part of the monitors and safety man-agement supervisors are the key to get-ting the workers to understand and to achieve smooth cooperation. Preißler, the expert for occupational health and safety, confirms this.

Further information online, including: Product information

www.draeger.com/101/shutdown

A petrochemical plant is almost like an island: optimal inventories prevent costly and frustrating delays.

Master plan: A detailed map helps to provide orientation when discussing the next job orders.

The Böhlen plant has been back up and running for some time now. Shutdown manager Hass is proud that the most re-cent turnaround went so smoothly. But there’s no time to look back: He and his crew are already working on the next shut-down at Dow Olefinverbund. “After the turnaround is before the turnaround,” he says, inspired by a famous German quote about soccer. peter thomas

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