Notre Dame de Gravenchon (Normandy): Prezioso (Altrad Services France) completes the Exxon IM21 turnaround with panache
At the heart of industrial sites, and particularly within refineries, unit shutdowns are a strategic element in maintenance. They require good management of people and of the shutdown procedures themselves. In France, Altrad Services, particularly through its subsidiary Prezioso, is an efficient and recognised partner in the successful turnaround of industrial units.
On the Exxon site at Notre Dame de Gravenchon, in Normandy, the latest turnaround named "IM21" was carried out in an exemplary manner, in several carefully scheduled phases, despite a delicate COVID context from March 2020 (the turnaround was initially scheduled for May 2020):
- May 2020 to September 2020: Preparation
- October 2020 to April 2021: Installation of means of access
- March and April 2021: De-insulation, de-lagging and asbestos removal
- Early April 2021 to mid-May 2021: Effective shutdown
- May 2021 to July 2021: Re-insulation
- May 2021 to August 2021: Removal of means of access
For Exxon, this was one of the major turnarounds carried out on this unit called "steam / block 20" since its start-up. A large number of people had to be mobilised, with a peak of 220 people, not to mention the 2500 tonnes of scaffolding (mobilised and deployed thanks to the effective collaboration of the various Altrad entities involved in the project - Prezioso, Poujaud and Arnholdt), and the 14500m² of insulation installed (50% cold and 50% hot).
The teams were initially made up of the Prezioso Major Projects BU entities, with subcontracting to the Prezioso Portugal subsidiary, but also with the support of Gestifix for the assembly of access means. The staff was then reinforced during the insulation phase with the help of another partner, ITCC Lithuania, as well as resources from the Prezioso Nuclear BU and Service BU.
The turnaround was complex, involving a large number of companies and workers, a lot of co-activity, as well as unusual contractual variation over such a short period of time. The project was also burdened by a COVID cluster, in full shutdown, with 60% of the staff affected. However, the teams stood together to maintain the expected level of service during the downtime.
Nevertheless, our teams were able to meet the important milestones during the project, despite the fact that the scope of the work was multiplied by the three trades deployed, namely: scaffolding, insulation and asbestos removal.
"We almost doubled the scope of activity, since the initial turnover was expected to be around €4-5 million. Finally, for our teams, the project ended with a revenue of around €10M, offering a multitude of additional services, such as the management of decalcification in an 'asbestos' environment, and always responding positively to the numerous additional requests from our client” says Tony Hervoche, head of the multi-trade and insulation activity for the Major Projects BU.
On the client's side, the supervision and process management teams have already expressed their satisfaction with the work done by the Altrad teams and their partners. The relationship and transparency of information between Exxon and Prezioso was one of the key elements of this success. As Benoit Campion, General Manager of Prezioso, points out: "We carried out quality work, without respite, with teams who were involved and willing, to ensure that the unit could be restarted in the best possible conditions".
