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In late February 2007 EDL Anlagenbau GmbH was awarded by OMV Refining & Marketing GmbH a contract to execute engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for a large-scale revamp of the approx. 40 years? Old hydrodesulphurization plant HDS1 at the Schwechat Refinery.

The objective was to reduce the sulphur content of fuel oil extra light to less than 10ppm. Beside this, the revamp was also aimed at increasing the capacity by more than threefold (!) - from 1,000 t/d to 3,500 t/d.

Even when the project started the project team knew that this job was extremely demanding time-wise due to the far-reaching replacements and modifications to the plant during running operation; among plant engineering firms also referred to as `sportive activities´. In fact, all required engineering, procurement and construction activities went along the critical path - from the very first day there were no considerable time reserves available.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

After myriads of drafts, discussions with all engineering disciplines, structural engineers and, needless to say, with the future operator the optimal solution was worked out. Existing plant parts were overbuilt with up to 30 m high reinforced concrete or steel structures to take up the new equipment. Existing pipe routes had to be included in these new steel structures. Other mechanical equipment had to be squeezed between existing equipment.

Because of the tight project schedule there was a big overlapping between engineering and implementation period. This situation required an extremely quick and flexible response to the steadily changing project requirements.

Rotating Lances

Based on a PDS model all individual revamp stages were charted. The construction schedule generated out of this model did not necessarily contributed to an easing of tension among the project team. Tenor: It is getting very tight. And on top of that civil work had to be done during winter time. Along with this, some other obstacles had to be overcome.

Our civil engineering company Pörner + Partner felt much concerned about foundations. Some of them had to be deepened for static reasons. Due to local space conditions piling was not possible, neither sheet wall piling since vibrations coming along with this work would have led to a malfunction in the running operation. The solution was to use the high-pressure jet grouting method in which cement emulsion is injected by a rotating lance under high pressure into the ground. Delivery times for equipment were relatively long due to heavy workload at vendors. That was an additional burden for the tight time budget anyway. Delayed deliveries for part of the equipment caused to permanently modify the construction schedule.

The Plant Shutdown

At the end of March 2008 the HDS1 plant was shut down, and on March 31st the core shutdown started. In the following 28 days people worked 24 hours a day in order to dismantle parts of the plant no longer required, however it was the majority of them, to install new equipment items, among them approx. 50 % of all piping, and a large part of field instruments as well as to execute tie-ins to existing units and off-sites. Moreover, some apparatuses were dismantled, retrofitted, newly installed and connected to pipelines. Up to 300 people worked in a very confined space in the plant. This fact demanded a great deal of the safety officers.

In order to meet the deadline no one day had to be wasted. All team members knit together. Each individual had to put his best leg foremost in order to cope with the challenges by April 28, 2008. Despite this tension all problems occurring were always solved between the client OMV, construction companies and the EDL  construction management on a partnership basis. And there was still room for this special `Viennese snide humour´.

ALL powerfully acted in concert and therefore the order was fulfilled on time without any industrial accident. Thanks to the judicious work of all safety officers and the considerate acting of the site managers, foremen and fitters the first-aid boxes could be kept closed. After all, each person got home without any injury - the greatest success. The HELSA (HELSA stands for fuel oil extra light, sulphur-free) HDS1 revamp is another successful milestone for EDL Anlagenbau and the Pörner Group.