Boiler Relocation

Project Overview

Riggs Distler was awarded this project to dismantle a boiler unit and its components, located  in southern New Jersey, and relocate the entire unit to a refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the project was to increase steam capacity in order to produce a higher volume of jet fuel at the new boiler site.

To facilitate transport, the Rentech boiler (480,000 pounds), economizer (100,000 pounds), and all super-load duct sections were loaded onto a barge and floated down the Delaware River to the site. All other components, including the 150-foot stack, pipe racks and platforms, fuel and chemical skids, chemical building, cooling tower, precipitator, collection tube assemblies, transformer, roof sections, and 25 trailer loads of pipe, were trucked overland. Riggs Distler’s team then re-assembled the entire boiler unit at the new site, also handling start-up, testing, and commissioning.

Challenges Overcome

Riggs Distler skillfully managed a number of challenges on this large and complex project. Boiler disassembly required us to perform all work, often in confined spaces inside the equipment internals, without interrupting the operation of the rest of the functioning plant. Due to the potential danger of the boiler work, we maintained a full-time Safety and Rescue team on-site throughout the life of the project. We also provided specialized training for our in-house Safety Supervisors and developed a site-specific Rescue Plan with the local fire department for use in the event of emergency.

Organizing transportation for the equipment involved planning around river tides, organizing barge shipment execution from New Jersey to Pennsylvania with a third-party shipping vendor, and permitting and scheduling for over 60 trailer trucks.