The first maintenance on DeltaValve coke drum valves carried out in Brazil was successfully completed at RPBC - Presidente Bernardes Refinery - in Cubatão - SP. The work took place during the refinery's maintenance shutdown, in June 2013. The service was carried out by Fluxo's services coordinator Luiz Fernando Amorim and a team consisting of six employees, together with specialist Stan Randle, from Curtiss Wright.
Maintenance was carried out on two bottom valves, and included the removal of the skirt and steam pipes, movement and disassembly, replacement of process seals, assembly and reinstallation of DeltaValves and their peripherals.
As this is a pioneer work in Brazil, Fluxo has prepared since the beginning of 2013 with the hiring of service coordinator Luiz Fernando Amorim, in February, it promoted the training of two employees at Curtiss Wright in Houston-USA, and the realization numerous visits and planning meetings in conjunction with Curtiss Wright experts to ensure services were performed correctly and on time.
In the case of RPBC, the work involved other challenges due to the limited space available on the deck of the coke unit, which made it difficult to move and carry out repairs to the valves.
Even with the occurrence of some unforeseen situations, the team managed to get around all the difficulties and complete the repair in 16 days, two days less than initially planned.
In September, even more prepared after working at RPBC, the Fluxo team carried out the maintenance of four more coke drum valves at the maintenance stop at REVAP - Henrique Lage Refinery - in São José dos Campos-SP. An even bigger challenge, which involved four valves repaired in 15 days. For this service, Fluxo worked with 20 people, working in two shifts.