Water Regulations and Capacity Needs Drive Persian Gulf Refinery Upgrade

Persian Gulf refinery upgrade

Published by Water & Wastes Digest

Three oil/water separators, each almost 32 meters long, and three sludge pump skids were put in place at the BAPCO Oil Refinery in Bahrain to replace equipment that has been in place since the early 1970s. The project was motivated by an urgent need to meet new government regulations and to increase capacity.

This was an unusual project for WesTech with five key challenges to overcome:

  • Chloride-rich influent water coming from the Persian Gulf
  • Modifying oil/water separator design to accommodate a higher nitrogen blanket pressure
  • Building relationships with in-country fabricators, especially when using remote construction management
  • Equipment to withstand extreme heat and sun
  • Language and culture barriers, including difficult vendor payment terms

BAPCO hopes to be one of the most environmentally compliant oil refineries in the region.

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Today, BAPCO produces 265,000 barrels of oil per day but hopes to complete an expansion that would allow it to process up to 380,000 barrels per day. Get more information about WesTech API oil/water separators that were used in this project.

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