TriStar PetroServ Inc. continues to be called upon by U.S. refiners to assist on a number of unique tank cleaning projects, once again earning its rank as a pre-eminent provider of tank cleaning and waste minimization services.

Although tank cleaning is just one of TriStar’s specialties, the company also provides tank degassing, sludge separation and dewatering utilizing centrifuge technology, robotic technology, coker injection preparation and long term onsite processing to customers throughout North America.

No matter the type of project, when a prospective customer calls on TriStar, they know what to expect — the safest operating group in the industry, backed by wellmaintained and reliable equipment and personal involvement in each project by an owner of the company.

“We don’t approach projects as just another job,” said one TriStar official. “Each project represents a significant investment by our customer, and we are committed to maximizing its value on their behalf.”

“Our OSHA recordable rate has been zero since the company’s inception because our corporate commitment to our customers is backed by highly trained, full-time tank cleaning and sludge processing operators and managers,” TriStar’s EH&S manager said. “API-certified tank entry supervisors are also on staff, lending their expertise to ensure the project is completed safely and in accordance with all standards.”

Recently, the TriStar team was put to task when a large Gulf Coast refinery had a tank that had not been cleaned in more than 10 years and inventoried 17 feet of oily sludge that was approximately 80 percent spent catalyst. The issue was that the tank could not be cleaned conventionally utilizing door sheets to manually remove the product because the tank had to be ready to be put back into service within a moment’s notice.

TriStar developed a system that allowed the vessel to be desludged without personnel entry, while still maintaining the structural integrity of the vessel. TriStar Operations Manager Daryl Archuleta directed the efforts of project managers Davy Crockett and James Spradley on the 24/7 project.

“This was the first time that a project of this scale had been successfully done in the United States,” said a TriStar official. “Not cutting any door sheets made the extraction process a little more unique, but the system we developed allowed us to remove and process more than 5,000 tons of material from this on schedule without taking the tank out of service.”

When a Midwest refiner decided to close one of its facilities, it chose TriStar to handle the decontamination and cleaning of its aboveground storage tanks. Most of the vessels in the facility were to remain as part of a terminal, and some were to be transferred to a neighboring refinery.

The conversion of the tanks to terminal usage dictated that they must be cleaned and made gas free and ready for hot work prior to inspection. TriStar crews spent months moving from vessel to vessel until the project was successfully completed.

“This project was a large one, and you never know what to expect with a job of this type and size, but we demonstrated to the customer that we could handle everything that was thrown at us,” the TriStar official said.