Optimization of the crane fleet across a complex site reduced both costs and carbon footprint for this first-of-a-kind refinery with carbon capture system.
Alberta is home to Canada’s largest oil sands region. For years, oil companies have been extracting bitumen from the rich Athabasca oil sands and transforming it into diesel. It’s here that Northwest Redwater (NWR) Partnership embarked on an ambitious project to build the world’s first environmentally responsible bitumen refinery.
The Sturgeon Refinery is the only refinery designed to minimize its environmental footprint through a state-of-the-art carbon capture system. A first in the industry, this facility captures the carbon dioxide created during the refining process, while still producing the high value products needed to meet North America’s demand for energy. This huge, complex project was taking place on a congested site and required a coordinated and integrated lifting and transport program. So they approached Mammoet.
Mammoet was responsible for all heavy transport onsite and all lifts over 150 tons. Working alongside 17 EPC companies across 100 hectares required a meticulous level of planning to maximize efficiencies and to keep construction safe and on track over the three year construction period.
NWR Partnership initially requested 31 cranes to complete the lifting scope of the project. However, through careful planning, coordination with EPCs and schedule realignments, Mammoet reduced that number to 16 cranes. This considerably eased the congestion onsite and maximized equipment utilization, which ensured the least amount of downtime and maximized cost effectiveness.
Mammoet’s method also reduced the overall footprint of the project. This was not only achieved by decreasing fuel consumption during crane operations. It also eliminated the fuel consumption that would have been incurred by transporting the additional equipment and personnel to site.
The Sturgeon Refinery has been processing bitumen into diesel and other valuable products since November 2017.
