AMPO POYAM VALVES SUPPLIES TANDEM GATE VALVES FOR EXXONMOBIL’S ANTWERPEN REFINERY

AMPO POYAM VALVES has designed and supplied highly engineered tandem gate valves for ExxonMobil’s Antwerpen Refinery, a key facility in Europe’s energy network. Located in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, this refinery has been in operation since 1953 and boasts a production capacity of approximately 320,000 barrels per day. These highly engineered tandem gate valves will be installed at the refinery’s Catalytic Reformer unit -known by ExxonMobil as the Power Former- and will play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of naphthas and producing high-octane hydrocarbons, significantly improving gasoline octane ratings. Additionally, the process generates hydrogen as a byproduct, further contributing to industrial efficiency.

AMPO’s engineering expertise has played a key role in assisting the customer with valve selection, drawing on our experience in similar projects since 2005. The valves supplied feature a unique face-to-face distance to ensure safety in high-temperature services exceeding 550ºC. Each valve in the tandem set incorporates customized bonnet extensions, special packing designs and premium materials to prevent hydrogen emissions, high-performance coatings and special materials in diverse components, specific surface finishes, etc. Given the complexity of the tandem configuration, specific quality control measures and tests have also been carried out to meet the demanding requirements of this application.

Additionally, due to the large size and unique design of the valve set, a special transportation method has been required. Taking into account customer’s commitment to quality, ExxonMobil requested a complete assembly test at AMPO’s facilities before shipment.

These are the first AMPO tandem gate valves to be installed in this process at the Antwerpen Refinery, although the customer has previously implemented several AMPO POYAM valves in similar applications. The exceptional performance of our valve solutions in previous projects motivated ExxonMobil to replace existing valves with AMPO’s advanced technology to enhance plant reliability and efficiency.

This project reinforces AMPO POYAM VALVES’ leadership in delivering highly engineered valve solutions for the most severe refining processes, ensuring reliability, safety and efficiency for industry-leading customers worldwide.