In Louisiana, counties are known as parishes. St. Charles is a parish or city on the banks of the Mississippi River in the southeast portion of the state near the Gulf of Mexico.

The St. Charles Parish has a population of 52,500 and the parish seat is Hahnville. Interstate 10, Interstate 310, U.S. Route 61, along with State Route 90 all connect St. Charles, Louisiana to various other parts including New Orleans which is about 25 miles to the east. The most populous city in in this area is Luling.

Various local attractions include the Wetland Watchers Park on Lake Pontchartrain, Salvador Wildlife Management Area, Lake Salvador, Lake Cataouatche, and Nomambo Mountain Bike Trail.

Baton Rouge is about 75 miles to the northwest of St. Charles and Lafayette is 130 miles to the west. The southern Louisiana coast is very rich in oil and a variety of natural resources. The state of Louisiana is the third-largest producer of natural gas in the U.S. It is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the country.

There are about 15 active refineries in this state, mainly located on Lake Charles and the Mississippi River. The refineries here account for about a fifth of the U.S. refining capacity.

Praxair, Inc. and S & B Engineers and Constructors were adding hydrogen refineries at two Valero oil refineries and needed pump stations for both plants.

Romtec Utilities was contacted to be the package pump station designer and supplier.

The design criteria required the use of a “jockey” pump to handle low flows and two submersible centrifugal pumps to handle high flows. It also needed to handle constant force main pressure created in an existing line at the Valero Refinery that this pump system would tie-in to.

Romtec Utilities, Praxair, and S & B worked through the engineering challenges to design a packaged pump station capable of integrating into an existing water infrastructure and into the construction of a hydrogen refinery.

This was the first of two packaged pumps needed to handle varying flows of industrial process water and stormwater at a hydrogen refinery.

Submersible centrifugal pumps in a duplex configuration also included a submersible “jockey” pump. This configuration would handle the different flows specified.

The wet well is 12-feet-deep, and the system pumps water quickly to an existing water treatment system in an adjacent Valero Oil Refinery. A UL listed control panel was supplied with radar controls for liquid level-sensing.

This industrial process water pump station that Romtec Utilities designed, manufactured, and supplied is a great example of the capabilities of our design team for oil and gas refineries.

Being able to design the pump system to integrate into an existing water system was the highlight of this project along with the construction of the new hydrogen refinery at an established oil refinery.

Romtec Utilities was pleased to be an essential part of this project for Praxair, S & B Engineers for this unique industrial process water pump station in St. Charles, Louisiana.