December 2019

Maintenance and Reliability

Consider installing a VFD to increase reliability and savings

The Petronor oil refinery is in the north of Spain and is part of REPSOL Group. In 2019, the facility upgraded the driver of a reformer’s draft fan from a general-purpose steam turbine and gearbox to a variable frequency drive (VFD) electric motor.

The Petronor oil refinery is in the north of Spain and is part of REPSOL Group. In 2019, the facility upgraded the driver of a reformer’s draft fan from a general-purpose steam turbine and gearbox to a variable frequency drive (VFD) electric motor. Draft fans for refinery furnaces or reformers are critical because they usually do not have standby machines installed; when a failure occurs, one or more production units must be stopped. The desired mean time between failure (MTBF) for draft fans, like numerous critical machines, is 4 yr–5 yr for the whole cycle between turnarounds without failures. The original configuration of the upgraded centrifugal fan was installed in the late 1980s. The

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