The Fina Antwerp Olefins refinery has been the subject of a thorough revamp and expansion project known as NC2X, which is now in its final stages. The project has the objective to increase annual ethylene production capacity to 1.4 million tonnes while also introducing
improved safety systems. Rotork valve actuators are already used on the site, which was originally built 50 years ago. Therefore, IQ and AQ electric actuators, together with Fluid System actuators, mostly fitted with K-Mass fireproof coatings, were specified for the automation and expansion of the NC2 plant. For the compressors, located at the beginning of the process, a special design was conceived to automate the large, previously manually operated emergency block (shut down) valves. These gate valves, in sizes up to 42″, isolate and protect the main plant from the supply of product in the event of a gas leak or fire. Due to the critical importance of the application to plant safety, the IQ actuator installations required customisation to comply with detailed specifications. This was successfully achieved with a design that ensures accurate remote valve position indication to enable the compressors to be safely shut down. Each valve spindle is fitted with an indication rod the same length as the valve size.
