Gunvor Raffinerie Ingolstadt GMBH (GRI), a subsidiary of Gunvor Group Ltd., Geneva, has completed a major modernization overhaul of loading processes at the distribution terminal of its 107,500-b/d refinery at Ingolstadt, Germany, about 80 km north of Munich.
Completed without interruption to normal refinery operations, the modernization project included software upgrades as well as replacement of field equipment for tank-truck filling on all 12 loading bays of the distribution terminal, said Implico GMBH, Hamburg, which executed the project alongside VINCI Energies Deutschland GMBH subsidiary Actemium GMBH.
In addition to installing a version of its proprietary OpenTAS terminal management system to replace the refinery’s previous OpenTAS system, Implico completed integration of the loading platform into the system as well as set up development and acceptance systems during the migration period to test and verify compatibility of both hardware and software components, the service provider said.
Equipped to calculate net refinery production, control loading of tank trucks and railcars, and process tax calculations both with and without the European Commission’s computerized Excise Movement & Control System (EMCS) for monitoring the movement of excise goods under duty suspension in the EU, the newly installed software also manages entrance-and-exit scales and the exit terminal so that Gunvor’s shipping personnel now has a detailed, near-time picture of terminal loading operations.
Actemium’s scope of work on the project included replacement of field equipment at the loading bays, Implico said.
Gunvor’s decision to undertake the modernization came amid determinations that the computer controlling pumps and valves during tank truck loading no longer met the latest technical standards and its findings that field gear at the loading bays needed to be replaced.
Neither Gunvor nor Implico disclosed a cost of the upgrading project.
2017 turnaround
Separately, GRI also completed a major month-long turnaround of the Ingolstadt refinery in early April.
Alongside routine maintenance and inspection activities, the turnaround involved a series of modernization projects designed to improve the refinery’s environmental footprint as well as its production flexibility, including replacement of the main fractionation column with a new, more energy efficient column, GRI said in release on Apr. 7 and Feb. 13.
Other works included replacing hydraulic controllers with new digital controls on process compressors and replacing the rotor, or exiting, winding of an unidentified generator, said Dieter Jurgens, the refinery’s turnaround manager.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
