Heavy lift signals big change at Valdez Terminal
The skyline continues to change at the Valdez Marine Terminal! Last summer, crews demolished A-incinerator, a construction-era apparatus at the Power Vapor facility that thermally destroys excess tank farm vapors. This summer, VMT project teams have a dual task: removal and replacement. On May 28, two large cranes worked in tandem to lift the new Vapor Combustion Unit (VCU) into place. Fabricated in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the state-of-the-art units are more reliable and fuel-efficient than the construction-era incinerators.
The team set up ladders, platforms, and electrical components while the unit was still horizontal. Then the 100-foot stack was placed on the same pad that was home to A-incinerator for almost 50 years, with the help of an adapter ring that crews put in place last summer. Work has already begun tying in the new VCU to the existing vapor management system, including connection to waste gas, nitrogen, propane, power and the communications network. The work is progressing on schedule, and the first VCU should be online by July 4.
A few days later, B-incinerator was taken down in preparation for its own replacement VCU, scheduled for installation later this summer.