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Compressor Facility Freeze Protection
Midstream Company
Ohio       

Challenge: Compressor facilities are used to push natural gas through a pipeline. During the process, liquids (including water) are removed from the gas. As temperatures drop, the water in pipes can freeze, which impedes or halts the process and usually results in costly efforts to restart the system.  In Ohio, the midstream company has multiple compressor facilities that required freeze protection.

Solution: WILECO designed and provided turnkey electric heat trace, electrical power distribution and insulation services for four large midstream compressor facilities in Ohio. We provided all the calculations, detailed drawings, materials, labor and other items necessary to install the required amount of heat tracing elements, wiring, controls, insulation and other items to each facility.  We utilized Chromalox self-regulating cable for the project.  An extremely cold winter in Ohio increased the urgency of project completion, required that we conduct real-time testing of the system, which enabled our team to perform timely troubleshooting on the system. This effort helped the customer identify additional problem areas that required heat tracing. 

The project scope included work on the condensate drain piping, lube oil piping, sump lines, day tanks, and discharge bottles. WILECO reviewed the facility drawings, conducted onsite walk downs and worked with the company to finalize the design prior to starting up each project. This project included all material, labor, equipment and project management to design and install the electric heat tracing system.   

WILECO also provided Heat Tracing “as-is” drawings to the customer at the completion of each project, and conducted a heat tracing training session for the company’s engineers during the project effort.  

Benefits: The Wileco design allowed for far easier installation, low installed cost, less maintenance expense and less overall downtime.

Result: To date, the customer is satisfied with WILECO’s progress on the facilities at four sites as well as the quality of work, and has asked Wileco to bid on similar work for an additional site and complete “adders” for each site.

Compressor Facility Freeze Protection 
Midstream Company
West Texas

Challenge: Compressor facilities are used to push natural gas through a pipeline. During the process, liquids (including water) are removed from the gas. As temperatures drop, the water in pipes can freeze, which impedes or halts the process and usually results in costly efforts to restart the system. In West Texas, the midstream company has multiple compressor facilities that required freeze protection.

Solution: WILECO designed and provided turnkey electric heat trace, electrical power distribution, and insulation services for multiple compressor facilities in West Texas. We provided all the calculations, detailed drawings, materials and labor necessary to install the required amount of heat tracing elements, wiring, controls, insulation and other items to each facility. We utilized self-regulating cable for the project. An extremely cold winter in Texas increased the urgency of project completion and required that we conduct real-time testing of the system, which enabled our team to perform timely troubleshooting on the system. This effort helped the customer identify additional problem areas that required heat tracing. 

The project scope included design of the heat tracing system, assembly of control panels, installation of the electric heat trace and the control panels, electrical power distribution, as well as insulation on a total of nine sites. WILECO reviewed the facility drawings, conducted onsite walk downs and worked with company engineers to finalize the design prior to starting up each project. A key challenge was management of the overall number of heat tracing circuits with the WILECO control panels. This required minimizing the number of circuits due to limited electrical power at each site.

The specified insulation included hard insulation with a metal jacket as well as sewn blanket insulation. Piping that was heat traced and insulated on each site included:

  • Test separator water dump lines
  • Several gas meters
  • Fuel gas scrubber dump lines
  • Flare knockout drum drain lines
  • Compressor discharge lines
  • Gas filter separator vessels
  • Facility instrument gas lines
  • Compressor scrubber(s) dump lines
  • Recycle and bad oil pump drain lines

Finally, WILECO provided heat tracing “as-is” drawings to the customer at the completion of each project, and conducted a heat tracing training session for EP engineers during the project effort.  

Benefits The Wileco design allowed for far easier installation, low installed cost, less maintenance expense and less overall downtime.

Result: The customer is satisfied with the quality of WILECO’s heat tracing solution and work and intends to invite us to bid on additional projects as well as complete “adders” for each site.

Chemical Pipe Systems Heat Tracing & Insulation
Chemical Company
Arkansas

Challenge: Caustic, phenol and formaldehyde are chemicals that must be maintained at certain temperatures in order to flow through pipes. Freezing of these chemicals in the pipes of a chemical plant can cause costly delays in the production process.

Working on operating lines is a major challenge because each of the chemicals must be maintained at certain temperatures to prevent freezing in the line. Since entire lines could not be stripped at one time, small sections of each line were completed in sequence. Furthermore, beginning the project prior to winter made the project more difficult due to the colder temperatures. An additional challenge was the presence of multiple heat trace systems on the old lines, some of which worked while others did not, as well as the fact that this particular plant had relied primarily on steam heat.

Solution: WILECO provided electrical and steam heat tracing, electrical power distribution and insulation services on the caustic, phenol and formaldehyde lines for the plant. WILECO provided the project management and quality control for each project. The project scope included electric heat tracing, as well as steam heat tracing, and was designed to address the particular requirements of each chemical.

Formaldehyde Pipe – Length of pipe was approximately 1,000 feet. The system was operational during removal and replacement of insulation, electric heat tracing and steam tracing lines.  WILECO furnished all labor, tools, material, equipment, access and supervision necessary to:

  • Remove temporary jacketing and insulation
  • Remove and replacement of existing electric heat tracing and install five dual circuit controllers
  • Remove and replace existing steam tracing lines
  • Provide electrical work associated with the heat tracing
  • Replace insulation and stainless steel jacketing
  • Prepare an operating package which included “as-is” isometric drawings and operating instructions for the new electric and steam heat tracing system

Phenol Pipe – Length of pipe was approximately 500 feet. The system was operational during removal and replacement of insulation, electric heat tracing and steam tracing lines. WILECO furnished all labor, tools, material, equipment, access and supervision necessary to:

  • Remove temporary jacketing and insulation
  • Remove and replacement of existing electric heat tracing and install two dual circuit controllers
  • Remove and replace existing steam tracing lines
  • Provide electrical work associated with the heat tracing
  • Replace insulation and stainless steel jacketing
  • Prepare an operating package which included “as-is” isometric drawings and operating instructions for the new electric and steam heat tracing system

Caustic Pipe – Length of pipe was approximately 1,200 feet. The piping system was new and WILECO furnished all labor, tools, material, equipment, access and supervision necessary to:

  • Remove temporary jacketing and insulation
  • Remove and replacement of existing electric heat tracing and install three dual circuit controllers
  • Remove and replace existing steam tracing lines
  • Provide electrical work associated with the heat tracing
  • Replace insulation and stainless steel jacketing
  • Prepare an operating package which included “as-is” isometric drawings and operating instructions for the new electric and steam heat tracing system

Benefits: WILECO provided new electric and steam heat tracing systems tuned for each chemical process.  In addition, there was minimal interruption in the production processes due to working on the operating lines. 

Result: The customer is satisfied with the quality of WILECO’s electric and steam heat tracing system.  The WILECO team gained much more experience in working on an operating process. 

Safety Shower Temperature Maintenance
Chemical Plant
Lufkin, Texas

Challenge: Properly working safety showers and eyewash stations are extremely important in a chemical plant. If a system freezes during the winter, they are not available for use. To prevent freezing, systems may be left running at significant cost. Furthermore, a system that is too cold can be unsafe for use. 

The ANSI Z358.1-2014 standard contains provisions regarding the design, certification, performance, installation, use and maintenance of various types of emergency equipment (showers, eyewashes, drench hoses, etc.). The standard states that the water temperature delivered by emergency equipment should be “tepid” (60- 100oF). This requires that the system be heated during the winter months to prevent freezing and insulated to prevent scalding during the summer months. 

Solution: WILECO designed and provided electrical heat tracing, electrical power distribution and insulation services on approximately 4,200 feet of water pipes feeding 43 safety showers for the chemical plant in Lufkin, Texas, in order to provide freeze protection by maintaining them above 60°F during the winter. WILECO provided the project management and quality control for each project and conducted an initial onsite walk down to understand the scope of the project and provided the material, labor, equipment, access and supervision necessary to complete the project including:

  • The removal of old jacketing and insulation
  • The removal and replacement of existing heat tracing
  • The installation of six dual circuit electric heat tracing controllers
  • The replacement and of insulation and stainless steel jacketing
  • Prepare an operations package which included “as is” isometric drawings and operating instructions for the system. 

Benefits: The project helped the plant comply with ANSI Z358.1-2014 standard by providing water at the correct temperature during the winter while providing efficient freeze protection of the system.  It reduced costs for the plant by taking away the need to keep the water running the winter. The safety shower system is also now documented and labeled. 

Results: The customer is satisfied with WILECO’s results and has invited them back to participate on additional projects.