Robert Brelsford
Downstream Technology Editor
S-Oil Corp., Seoul, has let a contract to Lloyd's Register Group Ltd. (LR), London, to provide a fully integrated risk-based inspection (RBI) system for its new $4.2-billion residue upgrading complex (RUC) and olefin downstream complex (ODC) under construction in Ulsan, South Korea (OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2016).
As part of the contract, which begins this month, LR will implement its proprietary RBI Axxim software package to make management of failure probability more systematic and efficient at the RUC-ODC plant, the service provider said on June 20.
Alongside software implementation, LR also will deliver additional RBI consultancy services across areas such as systems, software training, and inspection management modules, as well as services to assist S-Oil in selecting thickness measurement locations for equipment and pipes.
A value of the contract was not disclosed.
The RUC-ODC projects remain on schedule for startup in 2018, according to Dong-Hak Lee, S-OIL's inspection department manager.
Ulsan plans
This latest contract follows a series of previous contract awards for projects under the South Korean operator's overall program to modernize and expand its integrated refining and petrochemical operations at Ulsan, which includes the 669,000-b/d Onsan refinery (OGJ Online, July 16, 2015).
The program, which includes construction of the RUC and ODC, is designed to improve profitability as well as secure long-term competitiveness of operations by enabling increased conversion of low-cost heavier hydrocarbons into high-value olefins and fuels.
The RUC will add a 63,000-b/d residue hydrodesulfurization (Hyvahl) unit as well as the 76,000-b/d high-severity residue fluid catalytic cracker to produce gasoline (21,000 b/d), alkylate (14,000 b/d), and methyl tertiary butyl ether (370,000 tonnes/year), while the ODC will add a 405,000-tpy polypropylene plant and 300,000-tpy propylene oxide plant.
The South Korean refiner also continues to progress with implementation of its separate S-OIL Upgrading Program of Existing Refinery (SUPER) project, which involves a series of revamps at existing processing units of the integrated complex (OGJ Online, July 14, 2016).
