Alkylation plant in Portugal upgrades safety system

An advanced safety system that meets the latest technical requirements and IEC 61511 and IEC 61508 protocols has been installed to protect the alkylation unit at Portugal’s Sines Refinery, an asset of Petrogal S.A.. Petrogal is a company in the Galp Energia Group, an oil and natural gas integrated operator.

Engineered and configured for the Sines Refinery by Optieng, a specialist in industrial optimization projects, the HIQuad safety system from HIMA meets SIL 3 requirements and the standards and specifications of Galp Energia.

The Sines Refinery, located in the port city of Sines, is one of the largest refineries in Europe, with an annual processing capacity of 10.8mt. The refinery’s alkylation unit produces an alkylated gasoline component, the result of a reaction between isobutene and butylene, with hydrofluoric acid as a catalyzer.

Optieng supported the project through pre-engineering, development and configuration, installation, commissioning and start-up, functional tests and training.

HIQuad H41q/H51q systems are the established standard for safe and economical solutions in the processing industry. The systems are ideal for small and mid-size safety-critical applications that require high levels of process availability.