Plant Turnaround, Maintenance, And Specialized Catalyst Handling Services

Fairtex Group offers a range of plant turnaround, maintenance, and specialized catalyst handling services, including:

• Heat exchanger maintenance, overhauling, retubing, etc.


• Column cleaning and revamp, replacement of trays/internals, etc.


• Pipelines and valves maintenance/modifications.


• Tank cleaning and maintenance, including bottom changeout and repairs.


• Hydraulic torquing/tensioning, blinding, and deblinding of equipment and systems.


• Cleaning, repairs, and modifications of reactors, columns, vessels, etc.


• Emptying chemicals using chemical-proof pumps and systems.

Our approach to turnaround management includes pre-engineering essentials such as scheduling, estimating, planning, and task force orientation. These elements help our customers minimize costly downtime by differentiating critical and non-critical tasks, enhancing overall accuracy in achieving completion targets.

Fairtex Group has successfully executed numerous turnkey maintenance jobs for heat exchangers, columns, and towers on a blinds-to-blinds basis during turnarounds for refinery plants, LNG facilities, and the oil and gas industry. We maintain emergency response teams to provide around-the-clock support for emergency maintenance needs.

Additionally, Fairtex Group provides specialized catalyst handling services to the refining, petrochemical, and chemical industries. Our highly experienced team, equipped with advanced life support equipment and handling systems, conducts turnkey catalyst change-out operations, repairs, and modifications for catalytic reactors and vessels, either under inert or normal atmospheres on a "blinds to blinds" basis.

Our catalyst handling services encompass:

• Unloading/loading of pyrophoric catalyst under inert/toxic atmospheres.


• Screening of catalyst under continuous nitrogen purging.


• Desiccant drier/molecular sieve bed replacements.


• Repairs and internal modifications of reactors.


• Tubular reactor catalyst replacement and delta-p measurements.


• Reformer catalyst replacement and tube replacement.


• Reformer tube external and internal cleaning using automated tools.


• Video inspection of internal work and documentation.


• Reactor cooling and purging by cold nitrogen gas injection.


• Blinding of equipment.


• Removal/installation of internals.


• Vacuum unloading/gravity unloading.


• Catalyst skimming.


• Inert entry (under N₂).


• Reactor neutralization (soda ash wash).


• Pre-bagging/pre-socking and screening of catalyst.


• Sock loading.