Delivery of BP pressure vessel a massive task

Hazelmere fabrication company, Specialised Welding Australia Pty Ltd, last week transported one of the largest vessels ever moved on Western Australian roads.

The 35-tonne main section of a reactor pressure vessel, custom-built for BP's Kwinana oil refinery residue cracking unit (RCU), measured 6.3 metres in diameter and was 12 metres long.

It is the largest pressure vessel fabricated by Specialised Welding in terms of diameter and was transferred from the company's Hazelmere base to painting contractor TCC Group in Kwinana, without incident.

The transported section was part of a 65-tonne reactor pressure vessel and was completed two weeks ahead of schedule.

Specialised Welding specialises in the mechanical and thermal design and manufacture of pressure vessels and heat exchangers, providing engineering services to the oil and gas, petrochemical and mining industries.

Business manager Mike Everson said a special cradle had to be built to transport the vessel on a heavy haulage truck.

Although neither company could disclose details of what the reactor vessel would be used for, generally they are used in catalytic cracking of the oil refining process, where the RCU converts heavier and less valuable components into lighter more useful substances.

Up to 4,000 hours were spent building the vessel, which contains an exotic alloy for strength.

Project manager Steven Yap, who oversaw the vessel's fabrication and transfer, said Specialised Welding was charged with a difficult task.

"In terms of size and weight it was very hard, there were so many things to think about," he said.

"Anything of that size needs to be transported with much planning for traffic, coordination and everything else, it takes weeks and weeks; it's not something you can just change overnight."

The remaining sections of the vessel are expected to be delivered in two weeks.