Our client was in the process of building a new refinery for an international operator and ordered electrical engineering design work from ALTEN. In this construction project, we took up the role of electrical designer for the refinery supplier. 

Electrical engineering included several areas 

ALTEN was responsible for overseeing the electrical engineering of the new refinery, which included electric power distribution, electrical design process, building electrical design (including telecommunications and security systems) and electric heat tracing design.   

In addition, we supervised the installation of the electric heat tracings at the installation site. The engineering work was carried out at several ALTEN Finland offices over a period of about two years. ALTEN had about 25 designers working on the project collectively. Our services were divided into four different areas: building electrics, power distribution, process electrics and electric heat tracing design. The projects were managed by three project managers, each responsible for their own area of expertise.  

The special areas of the project included the design of electric heat tracing systems, electric grid calculations, electrical design of telecommunications and security systems and ATEX areas.  

The project stakeholders included electrical designers and project managers on the ALTEN side, and automation and instrumentation designers, piping designers, process engineers, installation supervisors and contractors as well as project management on the client side 

Tools and IT languages used in the project 

Several tools and IT languages were used throughout the project. These included: Autocad, Microstation, MagiCAD Electrical, CADIE Picasso, NEPLAN and Febdok.  

The challenge was the availability of source data and navigating the unforeseen circumstances. In large-scale projects like these, following the agreed schedule is imperative to keep the project on track. ALTEN succeeded well in doing so.