HOTSTART From the Field: Louisiana Offshore Oil Port

LOOP, LLC recently installed a pair of HOTSTART coolant heating systems and oil heating systems on two of its four CAT D3616 engines which power large capacity crude oil pumps at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port in the Gulf of Mexico. LOOP is the only port in the U.S. capable of offloading deep draft tankers known as Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC) and Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC). Since the draft of these tankers is so deep, they are unable to reach inland ports on the Mississippi River to offload their oil. The new heating systems are part of a retrofit project on the pumping platform which is located approximately 18 miles off the coast of Louisiana south of Grand Isle.

The port consists of three single-point mooring buoys used for the offloading of crude tankers and a marine terminal consisting of a two-level pumping platform and a three-level control platform. The onshore oil storage facility, twenty-five miles inland, is connected to the port complex by a 48-inch diameter pipeline. The Clovelly facility provides interim storage for crude oil before it is delivered via connecting pipelines to refineries on the Gulf Coast and in the Midwest.

When plans called for an upgrade to the engine heating equipment, LOOP Senior Maintenance Engineer Chuck Borne contacted the HOTSTART Houston office. Rick Cargill and Pat Norwood, HOTSTSTART’s Oil and Gas Market Managers, recommended the OLE Heating System and the CLE Heating System to replace the original 30 year old HOTSTART equipment.

HOTSTART hazardous location oil heaters and coolant heaters were recommended for installation on the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port in the Gulf of Mexico.

 The OLE was specified as a 480V, 60Hz, 3 phase, 9kW oil heating system while the CLE was specified as a 480V, 60Hz, 3 phase, 30kW coolant heating system. The OLE model heats the engine oil and acts as a pre-lubing system. The CLE model pre-heats the engine’s coolant supply by circulating warm coolant throughout the engine during standby. The configuration of the new installations allows for easier maintenance access and features updated plumbing lines for improved flow of coolant and oil. An additional pair of heating systems will be installed at the platform in the next month and two more systems will be installed later in 2013.

Borne noted that even though the platform is in the Gulf of Mexico, temperatures can cool down to 40°F during the winter months. “The engines must always maintain operating temperature. When the pumps need power, the engines better be ready to start.”

LOOP, LLC has offloaded over eleven billion barrels of foreign and domestically produced crude oil since its inception and handles 13 percent of the nation’s foreign oil – about 1.2 million barrels a day. They are the single largest point of entry for waterborne crude oil coming into the United States.