Petróleos Mexicanos’ (Pemex) Lazaro Cardenas refinery is located in Minatitlan, Veracruz, Mexico. Built in 1906, it is the oldest refinery in the country.
Pemex completed a $3.62bn modernisation project of the refinery in July 2011. The project was scheduled for completion in 2008 but was delayed. The cost of the project also doubled due to an increase in raw material and equipment prices.
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The modernisation was part of the clean fuels programme aimed at upgrading outdated facilities in Mexico. The programme will enable production of low-sulphur gasoline to meet global environmental standards.
The government plans to invest further in facilities operated by Pemex to upgrade them to global standards.
Extension of the Petróleos Mexicanos’ (Pemex) Lazaro Cardenas refinery
The modernisation of the refinery was launched in 2003. It included construction of 11 processing plants and associated facilities.
The processing plants included a sulphur recovery plant, hydrogen plant, gas oil plant, fluid catalytic cracker complex (42,000bpd), atmospheric and vacuum distilling plant (150,000bpd and 60,000bpd), hydro-desulphurisation plant (37,000bpd) and amine regeneration units.
Nine of the 11 processing plants specialise in crude oil processing. The refinery now consists of 27 plants covering an area of more than 800ha.
The project also included installation of three spherical vessels for storing propylene and butane. The 550t vessels have a diameter of 53ft and are supported by 12 cylindrical legs.
The project upgraded the refinery’s processing capacity from 160,000 barrels a day (bpd) of crude oil to 285,000bpd. Gasoline production as a result will increase from 45,000 barrels to 93,000 barrels. The project will reduce Mexico’s dependence on fuel imports. It will also save more than $5bn annually for Pemex.
Construction of the Petróleos Mexicanos’ (Pemex) Lazaro Cardenas refinery
Construction of the project was divided into several packages. Initial works included surface soil improvement as the site contained soft clay and loose sand. Dynamic compaction and compaction grouting were carried out to ensure the ground had enough load bearing capacity for the foundations. Deep soil treatment was followed by the construction of foundations.
Technology used in the facility
ABB provided automation services for the project under a $9.1m contract. It supplied its Foundation fieldbus technology including installation of field instrumentation, heaters, compressor protection systems and a new distributed control system.
ABB’s scope of work included automation, electromechanical and civil engineering works, HVAC and related services.
The new equipment replaced the 30-year old pneumatic instrumentation installed at the refinery. Readings, tests and adjustments were earlier carried out manually by operators. With the implementation of the new technology, predictive maintenance and maintenance scheduling was made possible.
The technology improved safety and emergency responses by alerting operators of instrument failures.
Contractors involved in Mexico’s oldest refinery
The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the project was awarded to the Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial and Técnicas Reunidas consortium. The $635m contract included the construction of the sulphur recovery plant, hydrogen plant and gas oil plant.
ICA Fluor, jointly owned by Fluor Corporation and Empresas ICA Sociedad Controladora, was awarded a $690m contract to build a water treatment plant, integrate all units of the refinery and provide auxiliary services.
A $534m contract was awarded to Dragados Industrial to provide engineering and construction services, and supply equipment and materials. Dragados worked on the catalytic distillation units, atmospheric and vacuum distilling plant, and hydro-desulphurisation plant.
CIMESA was contracted to carry out soil improvement and deep foundation works for the project. Enerpac provided lifting and positioning services for installation of spherical storage vessels. Samsung Engineering provided EPC services for the alkylation unit of the refinery.
OMB Valves was subcontracted by Samsung Engineering to supply forged steel valves for the project. A $2m contract was awarded to Graham Corporation for supplying an ejector system for the refinery. Electrical, instrumentation and control works were carried out by Kentech Mexico. Mina-Trico was also involved in the project.
