Colombia Refinery Cooling Systems

Peak Performance Under Pressure: A Full-Scale Cooling Tower Turnaround for Colombia’s Premier Refinery

Executing a critical path, 28-day turnaround to restore and optimize the thermal performance of essential cooling systems, ensuring plant reliability and production continuity.

The Challenge: Restoring Efficiency in a Mission-Critical System

In the high-stakes environment of a major oil refinery, operational efficiency is paramount. The facility’s cooling tower systems, essential for regulating temperatures across key production processes, were showing signs of degradation and underperformance. The client faced a critical challenge: execute a complete overhaul of multiple cooling towers within a tightly scheduled, 28-day plant-wide turnaround. The project demanded flawless execution, absolute adherence to safety protocols, and a guarantee of restored thermal performance without causing a single delay to the plant’s restart schedule.

The Solution: Precision Engineered, Rapidly Deployed

Body: Our team was contracted for a complete turnkey solution, managing every phase from initial inspection to final commissioning. The scope of work was extensive and required meticulous planning to meet the aggressive timeline.

• Comprehensive Overhaul: We performed a full-scale replacement of the internal components of the cooling towers. This included the installation of high-efficiency PVC fill media and drift eliminators, designed to maximize water-to-air contact and significantly improve thermal efficiency.
• Structural & Mechanical Restoration: Beyond the internal systems, we undertook critical mechanical and structural repairs. This involved replacing the fan drive shafts, balancing fan assemblies to reduce vibration and wear, and executing fiberglass repairs on the tower structure itself to ensure long-term integrity. Every component was selected and installed to withstand the harsh operating conditions of the refinery environment.

The Outcome: Efficiency Restored, Reliability Ensured

The project was completed on schedule and on budget, a testament to our team’s rigorous planning and execution. The cooling towers were successfully recommissioned, immediately demonstrating restored thermal performance and operational stability. By successfully completing our work within the critical path of the turnaround, we ensured the refinery could resume full production without delay, equipped with a more efficient and reliable cooling system. This project highlights our capability to deliver complex, time-sensitive industrial projects that are fundamental to our clients’ success.