Adding Value #19

Here at RCE, some times we’re so good at our job that we cost ourselves business. We had been engaged in designing a new Trans-Mix Fractionator for a client because their current unit was not able to achieve name-plate capacity. We had progressed the design far enough along that a review session was warranted and it was decided to do the review on-site. After a couple of days of review and hearing about issues related to their current fractionator we decided to go out and take a look at it. During our casual tour we noticed that there was a very large pressure drop in the tower overhead line. A follow-up detailed pressure survey confirmed this. The overhead line was replaced (pictures confirmed large amounts of deposits inside the pipe causing a large restriction in effective diameter) and improvements were made to their chemical treating program. Having fixed their existing fractionator, the project for the new fractionator was cancelled. Sad that we lost the work, but as engineers we were greatly satisfied to have solved a problem and saved our client a lot of money. Saving client’s money is just part of what RCE does day in and day out!