INA Rijeka Refinery Modernization Project
The modernization of the Rijeka Oil Refinery is the largest single investment project in the history of the INA oil company. The project includes the construction of a heavy waste treatment plant, the reconstruction of existing units, as well as the construction of a new port with a closed coke warehouse at the INA Rijeka Refinery. The first phase of work on the new plant started in 2020, and commissioning is expected in 2023.
The project is part of the INA R&M New Direction 2023 program, which aims to transform INA’s refinery business into a sustainable and profitable business. The program includes the concentration of crude oil refining activities in Croatia in the Rijeka Oil Refinery and, within it, the conversion of the Sisak Refinery into an industrial center, as well as the implementation of other projects to transform the Refineries operations and marketing in accordance with the strategic guidelines.
The main contractor on this important project is KT – Kinetics Technology, an international company based in Italy specializing in services in the refining and petrochemical industries. Considering that the construction of a heavy waste treatment plant is a complex and comprehensive project, a large number of specialized companies participate in its implementation alongside KT, including numerous subcontractors from Croatia. The largest subcontractor for KT – Kinetics Technology is the prominent Zagreb-based company Ivicom Consulting d.o.o., specialized in consulting, engineering, supervision, project management and construction of various industrial plants as well as other buildings and infrastructural projects.
We are taking part in this important projects as subcontractors for Ivicom Consulting d.o.o. Our part of the job is to conduct geotechnical investigation and testing and make the geotechnical reports.
For the INA Rijeka Refinery modernization project, we have conducted geotechnical investigation and testing that included:
- Engineering-geological mapping of the location
- Exploratory core drilling (a total of 1,5 km drilled, 77 boreholes)
- Execution of Standard penetration test (SPT)
- Lugeon permeability test
- Weekly groundwater level determination in drilled boreholes and piezometers
- Sampling of water from existing piezometers to determine water pH and the presence of chloride and sulfate ions
- Drilled boreholes injection and filling with injection mixture
- Vertical georeferenced video logging of drilled boreholes (push rod camera)
- Vertical and horizontal video logging of drilled boreholes (lateral camera)
- Execution of probing pits (41 probing pits executed)
- Dynamic compressibility module testing with a dynamic plate
- Environmental tests (a set of chemical tests that include determining the level of metals and hydrocarbons in the soil)
- Ground-penetrating radar (20,3 km tested with geo radar)
- Seismic refraction testing (4,9 km tested)
- Geoelectric tomography testing (4,6 km tested)
- Laboratory tests of samples from probing pits (50 kg and 2 kg samples) which include organic matter content, CBR, Standard Proctor, granulation, volume and specific gravity, CaCO3 determination, soil pH value, sulfate and chloride ions content
- Laboratory testing of samples from boreholes in an accredited geotechnical laboratory
During the 6 months period field investigation and testing were continuously supervised, and we have also made a geotechnical report.
These methods were selected to determine the geological-structural and physical-mechanical characteristics of the soil foundation in the best possible way. Based on the data obtained from the geotechnical investigation and testing over a period of 6 months at the INA Rijeka Refinery, we have made geotechnical reports that will serve as a basis for the design.
We trust that this project will be an excellent reference for our future business ventures, and believe that the Rijeka Refinery will be able to compete with the leading refineries in the region, thus guaranteeing its long-term survival on the market.
Read more: Quality Standard Certificates ISO 9001:2015 and SCCP:2011
Photo: Goran Kovačić/PIXSELL
