What Belongs On A Pre-Project Checklist For A Refinery Turnaround?

Bringing in a refinery turnaround management services provider is a good way to ensure the process will be handled competently. It's important, however, to have your pre-project checklist in hand even if you're engaging a refinery turnaround management firm to tackle much of the work. Put these 5 items on your checklist so you can ensure your operation comes out the other side in the best possible shape.

Planning

It's important to fully appreciate how a refinery turnaround fits into the long-term plans of your organization. This is a full shutdown of a facility, albeit one with a clear purpose. You should understand what your operation's employees are going to be doing while this happens, even if that means furloughing them or assigning them to other facilities. This is a good time, for example, to consider getting in training sessions or scheduling vacations for non-essential personnel.

Inspections

The first thing the refinery turnaround management team is going to want is information about the state of the facility. Inspections need to be arranged for every component. Depending upon the machinery that you might be running, this may include sending parts out for ultrasonic inspections to check for cracks and corrosion.

Equipment

It's going to take a lot of hardware to get the turnaround done. That means scheduling equipment rentals and hauling in machines you own. You should contact your logistic people and contractors to arrange a schedule for the drop-offs. Likewise, you should consult with the refinery turnaround management services company to figure out when equipment needs to arrive and when it needs to go away.

Collecting Data

Data should be collected prior to the shutdown. This information will be of immense use in measuring the success of the turnaround once the project is finished. Know what your key metrics are and assign data science professionals to collect the necessary information.

Shutdowns

Few things in a refinery can just be shut off with a switch. It's important to identify which components will need time to wind down and cool off before they can be worked on. Similarly, it's critical that a complete facility-wide shutdown is achieved before starting work to avoid the risk of cascading failures.

The shutdown phase is a very "measure twice and cut once" deal. Every notification that a section is offline should be double-checked by a second party. Once you're at 100% confidence that everything is offline and all your resources are in place, you can begin repairs, retrofits, upgrades, and installations.

For more information, contact a refinery turnaround management service.