Petroecuador's Esmeraldas Refinery to Begin Maintenance Overhaul and Modernization Project in November 2008

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petroecuador's 110,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Esmeraldas refinery is expected to begin a maintenance overhaul in November. Ecuador's government has approved a $187 million budget to revamp, modernize and redesign the refinery, which is scheduled to maintain its current processing capacity of 110,000 BBL/d. Chiyoda Corporation (TYO:6366) (Yokohama, Japan), which participated in the construction of the Esmeraldas Refinery, has signed an agreement with Petroecuador for the maintenance overhaul, revamp and modernization. For more details, view related August 14, 2008, news article - Ecuador's Esmeraldas Refinery Fully Operational, Prepares for Overhaul in 4Q08.

During the maintenance overhaul, which will last 12 mechanical days, modifications will be performed on the electric system. New uninterruptible-power-supply backup equipment will be installed. A new power plant will not be built. The piping of the CH-1 furnace of the 55,000-BBL/d Crude 1 unit will be changed, and the unit could be kept offline longer than 12 days, since this type of work may take longer. Maintenance work will be performed in the heat exchanger and the air compressor, shared by Crude 1 and Crude 2 units.

The maintenance turnaround presents an opportunity for work to be performed on these pieces of equipment, since both crude units need to be offline in order to do so. Other equipment involved in the maintenance turnaround include the flare header and drip drums. All of the refinery's units are currently processing at 100% capacity except for Crude 1, which is processing at 90% because of a problem in the furnace coil.

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