Energy Transfer

Marcus Hook Industrial Complex | Fire Water Intake System
Project Overview
Project Goals
Data Points
Group 34 Created with Sketch.
Our Team
Project Details
Community Impact
Fire-water-intake-system-complete

Shifting Operations

For the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex, shifting their operations from a refinery to a storage and export center for liquified gases meant many of their systems would need to be completely upgraded. One of the most important tools needed for their new operation is their firewater intake system, which draws water from the river to put out fires that would be catastrophic if they were to arise. To protect the newly-installed cryogenic tanks, S. T. Hudson provide a structural design and constructed a fire water intake system complete with automated pumps that were procured and tested.

Energy-Transfer-safety-was-a-major-goal

Project Goals

Safety was a primary priority for this project. Meeting the firefighting needs to protect the cryogenic tanks was of paramount importance.

Design Fire Water Intake System

Meeting the construction and procurement schedule was a top priority to protect the infrastructure integrity of the complex.

Build River Water Intake Structure

The system would require the use of river water, necessitating the design and build of apparatus to pull and transport the water.

Key Data Points

5,000
Sq Ft Cofferdam
30
Deep Excavation
2
800HP

Diesel-Driven Water Pumps

1
Jockey Pump
30
Inch HDPE Pipelines

To tie in the new pump system to the refinery water system

Our Team

Want to learn more about our individual expertise? Get to know our team!

Robert Hudson, P.E.

President and Chief Executive Officer
Robert Hudson, P.E. Robert Hudson, P.E.

Robert Hudson, P.E.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Hudson is a Senior Civil/Structural Engineer with over 40 years of experience in the design and construction of marine facilities. He has special expertise in construction methods and estimating. Over the course of his career, Mr. Hudson has been involved in a wide range of construction activities, with emphasis on marine structures, bridges and pile foundations.

In 2002, Mr. Hudson became President and Chief Operating officer of S. T. Hudson Engineers, Inc and continues to serve in that capacity today. Mr. Hudson is a Registered Professional Engineer in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. His professional affiliations include The Ports of Philadelphia Maritime Society; The Deep Foundation Institute; The American Society of Civil Engineers and The National Society of Professional Engineers.

James Thomas

Chief Operating Officer & Vice President
James Thomas James Thomas

James Thomas

Chief Operating Officer & Vice President

Mr. Thomas is Hudson’s Chief Operating Officer and has over 35 years of broad experience in the planning, design, management and execution of marine construction and dredging projects.

Mr. Thomas has worked on projects throughout the United States, the Caribbean, South America and the Middle East. His marine construction and dredging experience includes participation in small to large scale capital works, maintenance and superfund projects. He has managed the construction of offshore ocean ship berthing facilities as well as the construction of harbor berth facilities and terminals.

Leslie (Hudson) Gerhard

Vice President
Leslie (Hudson) Gerhard Leslie (Hudson) Gerhard

Leslie (Hudson) Gerhard

Vice President

Ms. Gerhard is Vice President at S. T. Hudson Engineers, Inc. with over 15 years of experience in marketing, company operations, contract administration, and client relationships. She is responsible for day-to-day office operations, generating and overseeing proposal submissions, marketing efforts, contract administration, team recruitment, and coordination and administration of the summer internship program. In addition, she is involved in developing business among existing clients and new clients which contribute significantly to corporate revenues.

Ms. Gerhard is part of the fourth generation of Hudson family members working in the business, working side by side with her father, Robert S. Hudson, P.E., to lead S. T. Hudson Engineers, Inc.

Anthony DePasquale, P.E.

Vice President & Director of Marine Engineering and Environmental Services
Anthony DePasquale, P.E. Anthony DePasquale, P.E.

Anthony DePasquale, P.E.

Vice President & Director of Marine Engineering and Environmental Services

Mr. DePasquale is a Civil & Geo-technical Engineer with 37 years of experience as a designer, construction manager, negotiator, and permitting consultant with the US Army Corps of Engineers. He specializes in the design, management, and construction of flood protection systems, bulkhead rehabilitation, and waste and dredge disposal containment facilities.

In addition, he has reviewed and negotiated numerous construction contract claims, permitting issues, and engineering disputes. Mr. DePasquale's experience has given S.T. Hudson valuable insight into the permitting process and environmental impact assessments from the viewpoint of the USACE and other regulatory agencies.

William Jenkins

Vice President & Director of Marine Services
William Jenkins William Jenkins

William Jenkins

Vice President & Director of Marine Services

Mr. Jenkins has 17 years of experience and a comprehensive knowledge of various hydrographic technologies and methods.

Recently, Mr. Jenkins has applied his talents to implementing various multibeam hydrographic surveys for ship navigation safety, object detection, clearance surveys, sediment transfer surveys, pre- and post-dredge surveys, and bridge inspection scour monitoring.

Project Details

To protect their newly-built cryogenic tanks that stored liquid gas, the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex needed a reliable firefighting system in the event of a fire. S. T. Hudson designed and built a new fire water intake system featuring two diesel-driven water pumps and durable HDPE pipelines.

In 2012, the Marcus Hook Refinery was acquired by Sunoco Logistics, who merged with Energy Transfer in 2017. Due to fluctuations in the energy market, they decided to repurpose the refinery into a complex for building and storing cryogenic tanks, transitioning to become Marcus Hook Industrial Complex. This shift, however, necessitated an upgraded fire water intake system to ensure they had the proper firefighting capabilities for the new facility. On the land side of the complex, large cryogenic storage tanks hold gas pulled from the ground and frozen into a liquid. Gas converted to liquid loses roughly 300 times its volume, making it more efficient to store. However, if the freezers fail for whatever reason and the liquid becomes a gas, the dynamics of the tanks change, potentially presenting a fire hazard.

S.T. Hudson understood the complexities of the job, one of which was the very specific amount of water that would need to be pumped for the system to be effective and work properly. Using their advanced design engineering knowledge, the team developed a design that would meet the pumping capacity. After building the complete river water intake structure, the system was tested and met all regulatory standards and compliance requirements.

Project Highlights

The complete scope of work for this project included:

 

  • Structural design of pier demo
  • Structural design of cofferdam
  • Design of pumping and piping systems
  • Design of electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation integration into the new system
  • Material procurement from all over the country
  • Construction management and services
  • Coordination with piping, electrical, and mechanical contractors, engineers, and consultants

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