Offload & Install of Massive Gas Scrubber at a Refinery

When a roughly 27-meter and 120-metric ton gas scrubber arrived at the ENAP Aconcagua Refinery in Chile, two companies wondered how they would handle their portion of the installation process. Their solution? Both called Engineered Rigging’s office in Santiago, Chile to develop a method for moving the giant gas scrubber. 

DSV Global Transport and Logistics (DSV) needed to transport the scrubber to the crude oil refinery, which processes most of the fuels consumed in the Valparaíso region of Chile. Although DSV had a plan for delivering the scrubber, it required assistance determining the best method to offload the enormous device from its transport vehicle and place it in storage. Engineered Rigging identified the Enerpac SBL500 hydraulic gantry system, equipped with the SSU300 hydraulic side shift units, as the ideal equipment for the maneuver.

In late November, Engineered Rigging’s heavy lifting experts mobilized the SBL500 from the Santiago yard. The team assembled the gantry, which features an octagonal boom for added strength and increased capacity and lifting height. Using the gantry’s Intelli-Lift wireless control system, the operator remotely lifted the scrubber from DSV’s specialized transport system and lowered it onto static storage stands. ER’s team then disassembled the gantry and returned with it to Santiago. 

“It took us just 4 days to build the gantry, offload the scrubber and deconstruct the gantry for transport back to our yard,” said Arnol Salicetti M., Engineered Rigging’s Director of South America Equipment Rentals & Sales.

Meanwhile, the general contractor, Echeverria Izquierdo Montajes Industriales (EIMISA), had completed its preparations for installing the new equipment within the refinery. It needed to move the scrubber from the storage stands to its permanent location inside the plant. EIMISA chose Engineered Rigging for the final portion of the project.

Three technicians assembled and tested the SBL500 hydraulic gantry, while a crew of four assembled and tested a Goldhofer self-propelled modular transporter  (SPMT) provided by ER’s South American partner Tecnogruas. The Engineered Rigging team then hoisted the scrubber from the storage stands and lowered it onto two Goldhofer PST/SL-E six-axle SPMTs, each powered by individual power units. The gantry was then repositioned next to the crane that would place the scrubber in its final site within the plant. 

“The ENAP Aconcagua Refinery is a critical component of the Valparaíso region’s fuel infrastructure,” said Salicetti. “Engineered Rigging’s safe and efficient transport of the scrubber helped the refinery keep fuel flowing as it processed up to 104,000 barrels of crude oil per day.”

In a single day, the Engineered Rigging heavy lifting team transported the scrubber nearly 1 kilometer within the refinery. This distance included a delicate 90-degree turn, which required each SPMT and associated power pack unit to operate independently of each other. This type of turn is only possible with the nimble SPMT, which can move forward, backwards and sideways. ER technicians then used the SBL500 hydraulic gantries to offload the scrubber from the SPMTs. The mammoth gas scrubber was moved safely, on budget and in only five days. 

For the Aconcagua Refinery project, Engineered Rigging provided the engineered lift plan, equipment operators and equipment rental, including the SBL500 hydraulic gantry with side shift units and two SPMTs. For more information about Engineered Rigging’s equipment rental fleet and capabilities, visit www.EngineeredRigging.com.