Sonara to Install New Control Systems at Cameroon Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--La Société Nationale du Raffinage (Sonara) (Limbe, Cameroon) is in the detailed engineering phase for the installation of a new control system at the company's 45,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Cameroon.

The Sonara refinery, the only petroleum refinery in the country, is located in the city of Limbe in southwestern Cameroon. Established in 1976, the refinery specializes in the production of gas oil, fuel oil, naphtha and butane for domestic use and exports.

At the end of 2009, Cegelec SAS France (Saint-Denis, France) was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract to upgrade the control system, which dates back to the refinery's creation in 1976. Work will include the replacement of existing pneumatic systems with a signaling network control center and programmable logic controller. Units will be operated from a new switchboard, known as "Blast Proof."

The project is scheduled to begin by the end of this year and is expected to be completed in September 2011, followed by a 20-day turnaround to connect the system to all production units.

This control-system upgrade is the first step in a refinery modernization program that will be carried out in two phases from the end of 2010 until late 2015. The program will include the creation of new units and the expansion of existing ones.

For additional information, see June 30, 2010, article - Societe Nationale de Raffinage Progresses with Refinery Expansion in Cameroon.

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