Hill Crane & Rigging (HCR) has used a 500-ton (453.6-tonne) capacity heavy track HT500 hydraulic skidding system from Hydra-Slide to replace a stacked heat exchanger at a refinery in Carson, California.
HCR’s project scope included the removal of a 260,000-lbs (117.9-tonne) heat exchanger and the installation of a 279,000-lbs (126.6-tonne) replacement.
To execute this, HCR used the HT500 skidding system along with 100-ton (90.7-tonne) capacity modular support stands and a Hydra-Pac synchronous hydraulic power unit, all supplied by Hydra-Slide.
Darren Scruggs, senior account manger at HCR, said: “The slide system was one of the major components of the heavily engineered concept that we pitched to the refinery. Without removing overhead structure beams, a jack and slide solution was the only viable option. We worked closely with Hydra-Slide to put together a robust proposal and upon winning the contract, we placed orders for the necessary equipment, which remains in our fleet.”
HCR was also responsible for the transportation of the old exchanger to the manufacturer’s facilities, and the delivery of the new unit, which measured 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) x 7 ft 6 in (2.3 m) x 15 ft (4.6 m).
For this part of the project, a 500-ton (453.6 tonne) capacity Enerpac gantry was used to load and offload the exchangers onto a dual lane trailer.
