Industry
Energy
Services
Power Distribution
Key disciplines
Civil/Structural
Control Systems
Electrical
Mechanical
Our refinery client’s existing electrical infrastructure system had become constrained by capacity and physical space. The radial system was also starting to experience unplanned outages/failures which negatively impacted refining operations while site maintenance crews were finding it difficult to obtain replacement parts. In addition, the client identified several areas where the existing infrastructure presented challenges to personal safety/arc flash equipment ratings.
As a result, the client wanted to upgrade and replace their end-of-life equipment in existing substations to improve overall refinery safety and reliability, reduce maintenance costs, and plan for future electrical infrastructure expansions.
The Anvil Power Systems Group within the Electrical Department developed a master electrical plan (i.e., electrical reliability plan.) This plan guided over a decade of work, executing a suite of substation upgrade projects at the client’s facility to revitalize their electrical infrastructure. The suite of projects included upgrades to the refinery’s main substations, distribution substations, and utilization substations (MCC buildings).
Anvil’s engineering experts worked within the boundaries of the client’s phase gated project constraints and turnaround schedule to perform the following activities:
– Develop project scope and schedule.
– Identify critical path items.
– Estimate overall project costs.
– Procure major electrical equipment (i.e., transformers, switch gear, prefabricated structures).
– Complete project detailed design
– Work with client and constructors to meet project cost and schedule.
The Anvil team was committed to implementing the projects on time, on budget, safely, and with high quality results. To achieve this, the team applied the same engineering, design, and construction processes across the client’s suite of planned substation projects. The results were increased efficiency, enhanced schedule integrity, and reduced project costs.
The success of the substation projects is also attributed to client, Anvil, and constructor project team alignment and commitment to ongoing, open dialogue. By collaborating closely on project expectations, requirements, and execution (i.e., equipment, design, and construction sequences) team members had comprehensive visibility into the progress of the project. As a result, the Anvil team was able to accomplish the following:
– Reduced Engineering Costs from reusable technical specifications and engineering approaches.
– High Levels of Quality and Safety due to equipment and construction consistency across the suite of projects.
– Reduced Field Construction Rework from tight specifications, timed constructability reviews, and constructable designs.
– Enhanced Electrical Reliability Uptime to Maintain Plant Operations. Anvil’s electrical team designed a new automated switchgear bus transfer scheme to automatically switch to a backup source in the case of a primary source disturbance.
– Reduced Labor and Project Costs. The Anvil team scheduled out long lead equipment to meet all project milestones and maximized work outside of the refinery turnaround to help reduce turnaround labor and costs while effectively managing construction crew levels.
– Reduced Supplier Change Orders equaling less than 2% of purchased order costs.
– 25% Reduction in the Life of the Project due to consistent equipment specifications and familiar field construction techniques.
– 10 substations upgraded
– $230 Million overall TIC
– 100 miles of cable
Major Equipment Installed
– Switchgear (480V, 5kV, and 15kV) and associated protective relaying and SCADA
– Substation class distribution transformers
– Prefabricated power control rooms
Independent Project Analysis (IPA) – Best in Class
