June 21 - Austrian crane, access, and heavy transport company Prangl has been involved in the annual shutdown at Schwechat refinery, near Vienna, among the largest and most complex inland refineries in Europe.
In order to perform the legally required inspection work, several facilities at Schwechat Refinery were shut down at the same time. Over 3,000 additional workers converged on the refinery site, where the work was performed according to a precise project plan.
Prangl operated 25 different pieces of equipment in the various facilities and project phases. The on-site base was manned with two co-ordinators in order to ensure that the 16 mobile cranes, five grapple trucks and four articulated lorries were optimally organised.
One facility on which Prangl worked was the ethylene plant, in which base materials for the neighbouring company, Borealis, are produced.
An extensive preliminary study meant the task was completed without any major problems. A massive machine was set up with a 160-tonne counterweight, a 28 m primary extension arm and a 48 m luffing jib. It was used to lift standing heat exchanger bundles weighing 26 tonnes out of the plant.
The company's transport fleet can handle cargo with a length of 60 m, a weight of up to 560 tonnes or excessive heights and widths. Permanent permits enable flexible loading with excessive dimensions.
