Ahead of planning: Catalyst Changeout in Finland
Client Tecoil recently faced an unplanned situation, which caused the plant to be taken offline earlier than expected. The catalyst unloading had already been scheduled, but now Mourik’s services were required sooner.
Familiar Plant
For Mourik, this was a great opportunity to demonstrate our strength. In no time, an international expert team was formed which traveled to Finland within a few days.
At the production site in Eastern Finland, Tecoil processes used lubricants into high-quality base oil. This oil is an important raw material for new lubricants. The production capacity is about 50,000 tons per year.
Optimised efficiency catalyst changeout
Jeroen Elbers explains :“We have worked for this client before and know the plant well. In an urgent situation like this, that’s a real advantage. We were able to prepare everything over the weekend. This meant our team of fifteen specialists could start right away on Monday. Thanks to fast decision-making and smooth collaboration, we started and finished about a day and a half earlier than planned. The cooperation with Tecoil is very pleasant; we work together based on trust and equality.”
Jussi Vakkuri, Production Director at Tecoil, adds to Jeroen’s words:
“At Tecoil, we have been extremely satisfied with Mourik’s approach to catalyst replacement work. Mourik demonstrates a strong commitment to safety, and the implementation of new operating models has been smooth and collaborative. Together, we have also succeeded in improving the efficiency of the catalyst changeover process. Overall, we are very pleased with the partnership.”
Mourik flooded the reactor with water to remove all nitrogen and deactivate the catalyst (waterflooding). After that, the water is gradually drained from the reactor, collected, and responsibly disposed of. Then, the catalyst can be vacuumed out. With this method, there are no inert entries, which makes the work much safer.
Mourik offers a wide range of catalyst unloading techniques, including waterflooding, remote-controlled mechanical suction arm, and the CatSpider. In all cases, the number of inert entries is significantly reduced or even eliminated.
