TOR's problems worsen as nature strikes

The two heavy rains that fell in Accra and Tema last week have flooded the entire yard of the Tema oil Refinery (TOR), compelling a shutdown because all the electrical motors have been submerged.

Several tankers could not load their products from the loading rack, which has equally been rendered inoperative. Revelations are that the refinery shuts down each time there is the slightest drop of rain to protect the motors and avoid electrocution.

Information gathered has it that the drainage that collects all liquid waste and rainwater has been blocked by the construction of tanks by the Koreans who undertook installation at the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), S.K. Engineering Company Limited. The question of who okayed for the Koreans to build tank numbers 201, 202 and 203 on the drainage remains a puzzle, even though most people at the refinery are aware.

Inside management sources feared that the recent floods and the occasional shutdowns of the refinery can lead to fuel shortages on the market this week or subsequent weeks, if swift measures are not taken to check the problem. Chronicle?s probing established that TOR has actually been sitting on a time bomb for some time now. At its tank farm, two of the 50,000 metric tones crude oil tanks, numbered 53 and 56, which had been flooded are reported to have developed problems.

It was established that KEES Company Limited and some other companies constructed the tanks for crude oil storage sometime ago. Without permitting the Metal Inspection Unit of TOR to conduct hydro tests, the tanks were passed and when the first crude oil was pumped into tank number 53, its roofing collapsed and dangerously remained handing s the metal ladder kept getting in contact with the metal tank.

Experts believe the continuing friction of the two metals will spell danger. Tank number 56 is visibly reported to be spilling what seemed to be fuel from the edge of the roof. Another disturbing discovery is the plant?s inability to produce steam to power its electrical generators, which is the main source of power for the refinery with hydro-powered Akosombo used as a stand-by.

Three out of the five boilers built in 1963 have been declared as scrap, hence there is not enough steam to power the Reformer Unit to enable Ghana produce ?super? which we continue to import. The unit, rehabilitated recently, cannot operate because of inadequate steam.

Messrs S.K. Engineering Company Limited, who constructed the $200 million RFCC in order to confirm reports that the three other boilers had outlived their usefulness and therefore must be scrapped, brought in experts from Korea to give an independent report on the boilers and they ended up worsening the state of the boilers. Their head now is how to run the huge RFCC.

A management source speaking on strict anonymity said the refinery has to procure and install new boilers before the RFCC can function. The source said that if the authorities are given the right picture of the state of the refinery, boilers 2 and 3, which are also down and are being attended to by the maintenance team, could have been rushed to the aid of TOR.

The reports have it that the refinery has resorted to welding of tubes, connecting the boilers and these have even reduced their capacities.