Drivers in the Edmonton area may have noticed a massive load being transported on roads in the capital region this past weekend, as crews moved a reactor used in the oil refining process that weighs 1.6 million kilograms — or about 3.5 million pounds!
The EO (ethylene oxide) reactor left Dacro Industries Inc. in south Edmonton on Saturday night, eventually making its way east on Whitemud Drive and towards Anthony Henday Drive, moving at a maximum speed of 30 km/h the entire trip.
The move spearheaded by Mammoet Canada continued Sunday night and then was to continue during the day on Monday until the equipment finally arrived at the Shell Scotford Complex in Fort Saskatchewan.
However, the move ran into several delays and Global News was told the delivery of the reactor was only able to be completed at noon on Tuesday.
The reactor moved by crews was 9.8 metres wide, 9.3 metres high and 141 metres long, making it an ambitious move.
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Miranda Mewhort, a spokesperson for Mammoet Canada Western Ltd., spoke to Global News on Monday about the work involved in making the move happen.
“It takes a team of people to move it so we have to start with an engineering study,” she explained, adding that equipment had to be specially manufactured to make it possible to transport the reactor.
“One of the fascinating things about this load is that there is actually 832 tires on the two trailers alone — 912 tires in total.”
EO reactors are used in petrochemical plants to facilitate the catalytic conversion of ethylene into ethylene oxide, which is key in the production of various downstream chemicals.
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