Tobolsk, 25 November 2011. At the “Tobolsk-Polymer” construction site, the delivery and installation of oversized and heavy equipment for the propane dehydrogenation unit has been completed.

Overall in September to November 2011, 40 units of oversized and heavy equipment were installed, including tower and heat exchangers, tanks, reactors, and continuous catalyst regeneration modules. The heaviest aggregate installed under this program is a refrigeration system module, weighing 282 tonnes. The greatest challenge was mounting the continuous catalyst regeneration module block, consisting of six modules weighing over 700 tonnes. The length of the largest of the module blocks was 53 meters. The installation work took place under difficult weather conditions at a temperature of minus 15-18 degrees Celsius. Two cranes LIEBHERR cranes with a 350- and 750-tonne capacity were used to lift the equipment.

Background information

The equipment for the propane dehydrogenation complex was produced in factories in Korea and the EU countries and delivered to Tobolsk by road and rail, and then by sea through Archangelsk and St. Petersburg, then by the Northern Sea Route and the Ob and Irtysh rivers to the industrial port of Tobolsk.

The largest operation for the delivery and installation of equipment within the scope of the “Tobolsk-Polymer” project involves the transportation and installation of the column for separating propane-propylene fractions, which is 96 metres in height and weighs 1,095 tonnes. This operation took place in September – November 2010. In terms of its complexity and the technical and human resources involved, this project is unique to the world and the Russian petrochemical industry.