OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2013. PDVSA Petromonagas’s upgrader, located in the Jose Antonio Anzoategui Industrial Complex, executed its first coke drum cutting. A new system allows the automated opening of the top and bottom slide valve of the Delayed Coking Unit.

The new slide valve system, developed by the joint venture’s specialists, replaces traditional methods that involved the direct exposure of the workers to the opening and closing operation, during the cutting procedure.

Coke’s cutting process allows the release and reuse of the Delayed Coking Unit’s drums. The by-product is extracted from the drums through the use of a bidirectional hydraulic tool (vertical and horizontal cuts) working at 3 thousand 800 pounds of water pressure.

The complete automation of this system is a landmark in the history of Venezuela’s oil industry. The remote activation of the valves avoids direct exposure of the oil worker to this process and eliminates the risk of an accident. This project is the first of its kind developed by the New PDVSA.

The old process had an estimated duration of one hour 30 minutes. But with the new Slide Valve System, the time spent opening and closing the valves is just 10 minutes. This translates into a fundamental benefit for the worker in terms of safety and higher reliability of the oil installations.

The men and women of PDVSA Petromonagas accomplished the operational challenge of the first opening and closing of the drums dependably with this new system.

The procedure is carried out through a control panel. The operator supervised conditions so that they were safe for the start of the opening maneuver. The activity was executed under the Safety, Environment and Occupational Hygiene regulation.

PDSVA Petromonagas confirms once again, its commitment to continue to ensure the personal safety and protection of the human resource. Additionally, it keeps the installations working safe and reliably through system updating. With these actions PDVSA is following socialist values which will benefit the Bolivarian People.