Sulfur pits are critical assets in many refineries as well as other chemical process plants. Within sulfur pits are steam coils to help regulate the necessary high temperature levels in order to keep the sulfur molten. The coils are designed to be submerged in molten sulfur, making it difficult to be fully aware of their condition. If not properly maintained, the steam coils within a sulfur pit can negatively impact production and operations. If they become inoperable, molten sulfur will harden into a sulfur cake material that is pyrophoric, difficult, and dangerous to remove, ultimately forcing an unplanned outage of the sulfur unit.

A refinery in the Gulf Coast had STRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGIES perform a condition assessment of an aging sulfur pit. Results showed signs of significant deterioration and a full retrofit of the pit, including stainless steel steam coils, was required. The Owner wanted a single-source accountability to design, fabricate, and install all components, mechanical and civil, to reduce congestion during the upcoming turnaround.

STRUCTURAL was chosen to perform the repairs because of their extensive sulfur pit repair history. STRUCTURAL’s expertise in fabrication and installation of stainless and exotic steel made them on obvious choice for a full turnkey, single-sourced accountability using an Investigate-Design-Build (IDB) approach.

Repairs were successfully completed on time and with zero safety incidents.