Page 27 - SAPREF 50 year

A FOX trots apace
The FOX Project got under way in late 1991 with a ‘ground-breaking ceremony’ in the North Zone area conducted by Managing Director Henri Joubert.
The project entailed the construction of a crude distiller with a design capacity of 6200 tonnes per day, a desulphuriser, and a work-up and reactor section. The unit was closely coupled with an HDS treating 4000 tonnes per day of heavy gasoil minus. The Project Manager was Ruud van Deursen from Shell.
By September 1992, the main distillation column was on site and being ‘dressed’ lying down. At 40 metres long and weighing 125 tonnes, the column had taken eight days to transport from Secunda.
A hallmark of the project was the particular emphasis on safety, with many safety competitions held, safety slogans employed
Crude Distiller 3.
and celebratory braais had. The project had its own newsletter, nine issues of which were produced. When the project had achieved two million man hours without a lost time injury,
a party was thrown for 1400 people at the SAPREF Club. The well-known singer PJ Powers was the entertainer.
The project went down in SAPREF history
as enormously successful. In particular, the project took less than three years from the first definition phase to final construction — three months shorter than scheduled; and there was not a single lost-time injury, a record for the South African construction industry at that time and a remarkable achievement internationally. In total 3 280 000 hours were worked on the
project.
The formal opening of Crude Distiller 3 took
place during a grand function on 11 February 1994, although actual start-up was in September 1993. More than 300 dignitaries and guests attended, with the then Minister of Finance, Derek Keys, pressing the ‘start’ button.
Managing Director Peter Fransen said at the time, “This state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly and safe oil refinery is geared to contribute to the development of South Africa into the 21st century. The increased capacity represents Shell and BP’s commitment to
the future of South Africa. This R450-million investment is a clear signal of the strength of that commitment.”
COMMEMORATING 50 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
23