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Upgrade work starting on pump station 4 Alyeska now beginning the third of four pump stations slated for improvements, hopes to have vibration issues under control Eric Lidji Petroleum News
The Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. is getting ready to tackle the third pump station slated for revamping.
Construction crews plan to start work in May on a temporary housing camp at Pump Station 4 on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline near Atigun Pass around milepost 250 of the Dalton Highway.
The temporary camp will sit on the spot of the original Atigun Construction Camp, deconstructed and re-vegetated 30 years ago after construction finished on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
Delta Leasing, LLC will build and operate the camp.
Around 50 people are currently at the site, and the camp is expected to swell to around 100 or 150 during peak construction, according to Alyeska spokesman Mike Heatwole.
Heatwole said the work is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2009.
Currently, the plan is awaiting a “fast track” air quality control minor permit from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, which is taking comments through April 3.
Part of Strategic Reconfiguration The camp will support upgrades related to Strategic Reconfiguration, a multimillion-dollar project to improve the efficiency of the pipeline at a time when daily throughput is about one-third of the peak hit 20 years ago.
A large part of the work involves changing out the diesel generators with electric generators better able to power up and down with the amount of oil moving through the line.
Although the Strategic Reconfiguration program is behind schedule and over-budget, Alyeska has made progress in recent years, completing work on Pump Station 9 near Delta Junction and Pump Station 3, north of Atigun Pass.
After completing work on Pump Station 4, Alyeska will move on to Pump Station 1, the last of the four stations slated for upgrades.
When the Strategic Reconfiguration program began, Alyeska originally tried working on all four stations at once, but decided to halt work and continue sequentially. At the time, the company had completed 45 percent of the work on Pump Station 4, Heatwole said.
Part of the reason behind tackling the four pump stations one after another, rather than all at the same time, was to keep from repeating mistakes.
Both Pump Station 9 and Pump Station 3 experienced technical problems following the changeover, including vibrations along the pipeline.
Heatwole said Alyeska has those technical issues in mind at Pump Station 4.
“We’re reviewing designs right now at Pump 4 and as applicable we’ll be making modification there,” Heatwole said.
Heatwole said the pipeline experienced similar vibrations during the original startup back in the 1970s.
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