The award-winning waste heat recovery plant at ExxonMobil’s Fawley oil refinery near Southampton, Hampshire. Huge flues pipe steam energy right back instead of being released into the atmosphere – a C02-saving scheme equivalent to removing 30,000 cars from the road annually. Southampton-based Trant was principal contractor. The scheme won top honours of the five infrastructure projects in Hampshire shortlisted by the Institution of Civil Engineers.
The Trant team with the ICE award. Trant’s contracts manager Colin Monaghan, who submitted the entry on behalf of client ExxonMobil, second from left at the back with Nigel Burt, the community affairs manager at Fawley oil refinery, which is owned and operated by ExxonMobil, next to Colin on the far left.
A £10m energy scheme which saves as much in carbon emissions as removing 30,000 cars annual from the road has won a top civil engineering award in Hampshire.
The environmentally-friendly project was by ExxonMobil, with principal contractor Trant, the engineering and civil engineering firm headquartered in Southampton.
It captures and use heat generated at Fawley oil refinery, which is the largest refinery and petrochemical plant in the UK and is located near Southampton.
Following the entry submission by Trant, the innovative project was named overall winner at the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) South East England Engineering Excellence Awards 2013.
The awards recognise the best civil engineering projects regionally, with the judges looking for projects that deliver a real benefit to society through the knowledge, skills and professional expertise of civil engineers.
Taking 13 months to complete, the heat recovery project at Fawley, which is owned and operated by ExxonMobil, involves huge flues piping steam generated from a unit producing an ingredient for petrol.
New flues duct the gases to the furnace to produce superheated steam, supplying a third of the steam needed to operate the unit.
Previously hot flue gases would have been emitted through the existing stack and the heat wasted.
Trant’s contracts manager Colin Monaghan, who submitted the entry, said: “We’re thrilled to have won against tough competition. The finished project is a highly efficient energy-saving plant, producing steam from hot flue gases which would otherwise have been emitted in to the atmosphere.”
He added: “The scheme met the criteria laid down by judges, which included engineering excellence and innovation, sustainability and environmental issues, approach to health and safety, adherence to programme and budget and benefit to the community.”
John Laverty, Director of ICE South East England, said: “As well as achieving a reduction in CO2 emissions equivalent to removing 30,000 cars from the roads, the project also provided ExxonMobil and Trant the opportunity to invest resources into local charities and recruitment of local labour and employment. The project demonstrates how civil engineering can mitigate environmental impacts and benefit the local economy. Our congratulations go to the winning project team.”
The winner was announced at the ICE awards ceremony at the De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel, Southampton. [JUNE 21]. They were presented in association with VolkerWesselsUK and Trant.
Other Hampshire projects were the Fleet Pond Restoration Project at Fleet, the Hockley Viaduct and National Cycle Network at Winchester, the M3 Hawley Lane Bridge near Farnborough and the Southampton Airport LED lighting replacement scheme.
ICE, which has 11,000 members in the South East, is a leading source of professional expertise in transport, water supply and treatment, flood management, waste and energy.
