Suncor has successfully completed a multi-year effort to replace eight coke drums at its Base Plant, extending the life of the facility’s Upgrader 1 by approximately 30 years.
This wasn’t your average maintenance project. Each drum weighed 270 tonnes, is 26 feet in diameter and 98 feet high, requiring one of the largest cranes in the world to lift them into place. In addition to replacing the drums, extensive safety and reliability improvements were made to the overall facility. While the project was of a global scale, the design, engineering, fabrication and execution were completed locally in Alberta.
“This project is a testament to the strength of our team and unrelenting focus on operations excellence,” says Peter Zebedee, Executive Vice President – Oil Sands. “Everything went flawlessly, resulting in the project being completed safely, coming in ahead of schedule and below budget. This demonstrates our ability to execute large, complex projects and ensures our ability to reliably supply energy to Canadians for decades to come.”
Suncor invested approximately $1 billion in the project, highlighting the company’s continued commitment to our unparalleled upstream assets and the region.
Newly placed drums and the first of two decks at Upgrader 1.