Inside the machine

Journey to the center
of a refining and petrochemical facility

Joss and Erwann spent three days and three nights at Total’s Feyzin refining and petrochemical complex near Lyon, France, to tour the site, discover little-known professions and report back on what they found in a travel diary/graphic documentary format.

Introduction

Sunday
july 2

I check my train ticket one more time: departure at 5:09 p.m. I’d better get going, especially since I told Erwann that I’d meet him 15 minutes ahead of time. A last look at the weather app tells me it’s going to be hot. So I take out the sweater I packed just in case, and replace it with a sixth T-shirt. Better be prepared, since I’ve heard that it gets very hot in coveralls, “inside the Machine.”

The word of the boss

Georges, the site boss, greets us as soon as we come in: “I’ve seen your tour schedule, my friends, and trust me, you’re going to be busy!”

This is what the site looks like on paper. But what exactly goes on in a refining and petrochemical facility?

Refining

A refinery separates the different components of incoming crude oil to obtain all sorts of products, from jet fuel and fuel oil to asphalt, liquefied petroleum gas and automotive fuel.

Petrochemicals

Among other things, refineries produce a petrochemical feedstock called naphtha. If you heat the naphtha to 800°C for just a few milliseconds, you get lots of substances with strange-sounding names like ethylene, propylene and butadiene, which in turn are used to make products with even stranger- sounding names, including polyethylene, polypropylene and other members of the “-ene” family. At the end of the chain, you get plastic.

Is it clearer now?

Not so fast! First you have to get a safety briefing.

Safety is serious business...

Coverals

Hard hat, protective gloves and protective earmuffs

Hard hat,
protective googles
and protective
earmuffs

Safety
boots

Gas mask

Gloves

You need quite a wardrobe...

As you come to the security gate, beast — a huge expanse of pipes and metal, vibrating and growling in the distance. What impresses me the most is the feeling that the Machine is alive — and alone. The site seems deserted from our vantage point.

The security guard comes over to check us out. I sure hope we’re on the guest list. Guests? That may sound funny, but it’s a little like getting into a club here. Except the dress code calls for safety boots. I can’t wait to get a closer look!

The gas detector

The portable gas detector is a very important device that you always have to have on you, sort of like your smartphone — except you can’t have a smartphone on site (#sad). Actually, it looks more like a big yellow MP3 player.
The detector measures the concentration of combustible gas in the air so it can alert the wearer if there is any potentially life-threatening hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) present and warn them of the risk of an explosion. All you really need to know is that if it beeps, you need to get to a safe area quickly — VERY quickly. During our visit, we held onto our explosion meters (I like that name better) just as tightly as they were fastened to our coverall pockets.

If it ever beeps look at the windsocks and go as fast as you can to an exit perpendicular to the wind!

Sleepless night

Oops, one important thing I forgot to tell you: be sure to turn the gas detector off when you leave the site, because if the batteries run out, it beeps. Let’s just say that my second night at the hotel was slightly hair-raising. I almost ran down to the front desk at 3 a.m. to demand that the entire hotel be evacuated because my explosion meter went off!

The fire station

“Pride and passion” are the words that come to mind after spending a few hours among these burly firefighters, with their shiny helmets and hearts of gold.
They’re raring to go, so we can see and learn as much as possible.
“What do you mean you don’t know how to use a fire extinguisher?”
“No, no — that one’s for electrical fires!”
“Turn the safety pin, don’t pull it.”
Next thing you know we’re in the fire truck, on our way to the training field.
It’s every eight-year-old’s dream come true. In our helmets, Erwann and I hold our heads high and play with the siren.

But coming back to reality, I wonder why there's a fire station right in the middle of the facility

The answer is obvious: it’s much easier to have professional firefighters nearby in case of an accident. They are familiar with the combustible materials and gases on the site, and that knowledge can certainly come in handy!
What’s more, they offer first-response and firefighting training to the staff, a little like with us today. Lastly, they are on call 24/7 and can intervene at a moment’s notice. That certainly makes me feel safer about the rest of our visit.

The gas flare

The flare is really fascinating. On the one hand, you’re drawn to it because it’s very, very big — sort of like the Eiffel Tower. On the other hand, it makes you a bit nervous, because it shoots out a big flame and a lot of smoke now and again.

The flare isn’t just for decoration. When a unit stops operating, the gas that can’t be stored (a really hazardous idea) or released (the neighbors wouldn’t be happy) is burned off, or flared. The flare is like a safety valve.
The gas I’m talking about is made up of light hydrocarbons, members of the famous “-ane” family like methane, ethane, propane and butane. In short, what is known as city gas, which, by the way, doesn’t let off any toxic fumes when it burns.

Actually, the flare is sort of like a giant camping stove. It’s necessary, practical and non-toxic, but should still be handled with care.

Refining: crude gets a makeover

The control room
A.K.A. the tripode

Your ears pop and your other senses tell you right away when you’re in a control room, because it’s blast proof. To enter, you have to come through a pressurized air lock, a lot like in a submarine.
The image isn’t so far-fetched, because these buildings must be able to withstand an explosion and be completely self-contained in the event of an accident.
When you actually walk into the big control room, it puts you in mind of a Star Wars spaceship. Picture an enormous console with dozens of flashing screens. A ten-person crew looks up to greet us. It’s proper etiquette to shake each person’s hand, which takes a little while.

So, you may ask, just what do you control in a control room?

The team controls all the petroleum streams and all the different processes the incoming crude undergoes. All of the pipes, valves and operations are monitored and regulated, as are the volume, temperature and pressure of products and gases.
As you can see, the maze of pipes out-side is completely under control, with three eighthour shifts ensuring 24-hour vigilance. The Machine is no laughing matter. When you’re inside, it’s absolutely fascinating.

“In the end, it's the same job as Homer Simpson's”

Constant adjustments

What’s even more fascinating is that the amount and type of products that come out are calibrated with external demand in real time. It’s as if the complex were plugged into a much wider network — the market itself.
“We need to put out less jet fuel and more naphtha for the petrochemical unit, because demand is high right now. OK, here we go, let’s adjust the levels!

Inside the belly of the beast

“Hey guys, thought you were hot in your coveralls? You can’t leave until you see a furnace!”
Just to give you a little background, today is July 3 and it’s about 35°C outside in the sun and at least 50°C inside my coveralls. I’ve already gone through two T-shirts today.
“Hope you’re not afraid of heights — we’re going to have to climb a bit.”

With that, Stéphane, a combustion and energy engineer, marches us off across the site in the sweltering heat to the bottom of the giant furnace.
The contrast with the Tripod is like night and day: there’s not a living soul, but the noise is unbelievable.
A giant ladder stands before us. Better not look down… I glance at my bulky safety boots and wonder how such big feet will fit on such small rungs.

With a bit of effort, and after a few scary moments for some of us, we make it to a little platform overlooking the entire site. It’s a very impressive view. The temperature is higher up here too. I’m dripping wet as I scan the horizon, with my legs still shaking. Erwann has already pulled his sketchpad out of his pocket.
Stéphane opens a little trap door in the furnace wall so we can peek inside, as long as we’re careful not to stare straight in.
I lean over to look at the huge firebox. A glowing inferno looks ready to burn everything in sight. Its force is intense and the heat is intolerable (more than 800°C).
I’ve seen the sacred fire in the belly of the beast.

“You have to see the furnace, the belly of the beast.”

Stéphane checks the flue gas composition using a portable analyzer that measures SO₂, NO₂ and CO₂ emissions and oxygen content.

The furnace

The furnace we visited is part of the atmospheric distillation unit, where the very first step of refining takes place. Crude oil heated to around 370°C is channeled into the giant column to be separated into different gases and liquids that will then be transferred to other units.

Petrochemicals: it's going to crack

The control tower
“CENTRAL COMMAND”
A.K.A. the Cube

Walking into the Cube, I have a sense of déjà vu: it’s the Tripod all over again. The same giant consoles, the same spread of screens, the same Star Wars atmosphere. And, of course, the same ritual of shaking hands when you come in. This time, our guide is a fellow named Vital, who bravely tries to explain petrochemicals to us in his Alsace-tinged accent. Good thing he’s patient!

He calmly walks us through the process:
“Here, we’re trying to get as much ethylene as possible.”
“This B305 here on my screen is a cold box unit where the temperature can go down to -160°C.”
“Then we split the molecules to get C₁ (methane), among other things.”
“The C303 column here on my screen is 60 meters high.”
And it keeps on coming...

Vital obviously loves to talk about his job, but I must admit he lost me after a while. I try to look like I’m still tuned in and ask a leading question: “What time do we have lunch?”

- So, given that we’ve got C₂ coming out here first, what would the next fractionator be called?
- Um ...
- The deethanizer of course! Because two carbon atoms means ethane.

“You can’t write about petrochemicals without seeing the steam cracker. C’mon guys!”

Lost in canalisation

Accompanied by two operators, we find ourselves in a maze of pipes that rises so high barely a ray of sunlight can make it through.
We climb a ladder, cross a platform, turn right, then left, go straight ahead and climb another staircase.

“DIDN’T WE ALREADY WALK PAST HERE?
IT LOOKS FAMILIAR.”

There’s no one to be seen anywhere. Nothing around us except for a bit of steam from time to time. And a tangle of pipes, as far as the eye can see. In less than 10 minutes, I’ve completely lost my sense of direction.
I fall into step with the steady roar filling my ears. I can’t hear a thing that our guides are saying as they point to an enormous machine. I just nod in agreement. The hike goes on. It’s only afterwards that I realize I’ve just walked through a steam cracker. I had no idea where I was.

The inner core

The steam cracker components include giant furnaces in which the temperature rises to more than 800°C in less than a second. It churns out all of the basic molecules used in petrochemicals.

Here’s how it works, just in case you want to impress your friends: As I explained earlier — but you might have forgotten since then — the steam cracker takes a feedstock called naphtha and cracks its molecules. (I love how that sounds!) Naphtha is obtained at the refinery through atmospheric distillation.
Cracking means breaking down big molecules into smaller ones by heating them up. The more you break them down — or in other words, split them apart — the more you can put them back together again to get the specific molecules you want. And then you can go on to make plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene and polyester.
Got all that? You’ll be a real hit next time you’re a guest at a dinner party.

A winning combination

Synergy is life

You might wonder why a company would want to have refining and petrochemical operations on the same site. They do have a lot in common: you take a substance, heat it up and process it into a whole range of marketable products.
But there are a lot of differences too, especially when it comes to what the products are used for.
Rule of thumb:

Refining = Fuels
Petrochemicals = Plastics
That’s the quick explanation.

The real advantage to having the two together is that they create a loop. When you refine crude oil, you always get naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock. And on the petrochemical side, when you put naphtha through the steam cracker, you always get hydrogen, an essential component in the refining process. Pretty cool, huh?
So as you can see, there’s plenty of back and forth. It’s a great way to save time and energy — in other words, it’s more efficient.

Storage, mixing it up

The tank farm takes up a large portion of the site — a good half, as you can see on the flap map. My aching feet are proof, after having visited the whole storage area, from north to south and from east to west.
This is where all the products go before being shipped — liquids into cylindrical tanks and gases into spherical ones. Their stay can be a long one. Some products have to be heated to a set temperature, while others must be cooled. Sometimes they need to be slowly and continuously mixed. The tanks can also be used for blending,

to achieve the best fuel cocktails.

There’s the summer collection, with fewer very light products that are explosive when temperatures are high, and the winter collection, blended differently so the fuel doesn’t freeze in your car’s gas tank.
Truth be told, there’s really a lot going on in these unassuming rows and rows of tanks.
I must say you feel very small standing next to them. There are hundreds of millions of liters of products in there.
I look at a ladder and ask if we can climb up.

Quality control, then out the door

RCIS: expert analysis

OK, we’ve been here for quite a while now and we still haven’t seen a single drop of oil. Maybe it’s time to visit the lab, which performs 110,000 analyses each year. There’s bound to be some petroleum products in there! The Machine has its own laboratory, with scientists in white lab coats and their pens in plastic pocket protectors.
Although they look a bit like the cast of a TV crime series, the experts are here to make sure that the products comply with market standards and quality criteria.

I feel like I’ve beamed back to my middle-school chemistry class.

“That's some great-looking asphalt, let me tell you!”

New horizons

As we’ve seen, the facility is humming away and turning out all sorts of substances and finished products. So, what happens to them next?
Well, to start, they’re sold and shipped to different customers. That’s why the facility has a Shipping department, located on the edge of the site (see map).
Since the products come in so many different forms and have so many different uses, there are lots of different ways to ship them: by truck, of course, but also by rail, by barge or even through the pipeline under our feet.

We’re now outside the refinery proper, touring a sort of giant rail yard with Grégory, the Shipping Supervisor.
An expert explainer who loves his work, Grégory gives us lots of information in a “radio personality” voice. We learn about the loading docks, top and bottom loading of tank trucks, driver training, and night arrival and loading of tank cars.

After dark

Heightened senses

The Machine operates day and night, seven days a week and 365 days a year (366 during leap years, of course). All of the people we’ve met have the same constant focus: feed the beast so it never stops running.

The teams rotate in shifts to keep the facility humming and to ensure on-time delivery of the astronomical amount of products that go through the refining units and steam cracker. That means they are there during the day and also at night.
It’s during my first night on site that I really begin to feel the deep bond that exists between the team members and “their” Machine. Arnaud is our night watchman.
“At night, I’m on my own and I like that. There’s a special, almost unreal atmosphere about the place. Come with me on my rounds, and you’ll see what I mean.”

He’s right — walking through this vibrant, humid, living mechanical mass illuminated by thousands of neon lights, I understand exactly what Arnaud means. The atmosphere is an unlikely mixture of a Berlin nightclub and a starry night in a mountain retreat.
All of our senses are heightened as we make our rounds, and Arnaud doesn’t miss a thing. He touches certain pipes to check their temperature.
He knows the smells of each area and if an odor seems off — maybe too strong? — he sounds the alarm.
He listens to the humming of the machines and the flow of liquids that create an unending soundtrack.
He looks at everything and makes sure it’s working properly, watching for any unusual signs from the Machine.

“Let’s climb to the top of the riser — it overlooks the entire refinery and gives you a great view of the stars.”

“WAIT A MINUTE: AREN’T THERE FIVE SENSES?”

Due to the ambient humidity, layers of ice form on certain compressors through which very, very cold products circulate.

A well-oiled machine

Water treatment

It hadn’t really occurred to me until now, but a site like this has to be virtually self-sufficient when it comes to energy. The facility also uses a lot of water (especially for cooling), which it pumps in directly from the neighboring river. The wastewater goes through a number of settling tanks to be recycled. I hadn’t planned to visit them at 7:30 a.m., right after breakfast. And despite my strong personal commitment to environmental responsibility, I have to admit that it wasn’t really a great idea to tour a wastewater treatment unit right after gulping down my morning coffee.

On their toes

Although the site often appears deserted, there’s really quite a large population busy at work in the refining and petrochemical operations.
It takes a lot of people and a variety of support functions to keep this little town running at full capacity, including safety, maintenance, repairs and procurement. Many service providers and contractors also play a key role, as the facility’s employees are quick to point out.

Fully stocked

With more than 25,000 SKUs — that’s stock keeping units in the real world — and several floors, there’s clearly a bit of everything in the giant warehouse. The inventory runs the gamut, from nuts and bolts and pipe ends of every size to our very fashionable protective gear.
Here’s a little shopping list in case you’re looking for gift ideas.

Upon closer maintenance and inspection

The inspectors are waiting for us. In the meeting room, six or seven people watch us come in and take our places at the table. It’s nice to finally sit down.Sarah, the department head, explains what inspection entails: “Inspection is like a medical check-up for the equipment. We’re responsible for ensuring that everything is in shape. To do that, we work closely with the Maintenance department, which handles everyday monitoring.
If Maintenance spots a sudden or chronic ‘illness’, we’re called in for a consultation. Based on our diagnosis, we write up the most appropriate prescription. This is obviously a big responsibility, because we have to ensure maximum safety while making every effort to keep any product line or equipment shutdowns as brief as possible.”
I’m now bone tired and having a hard time taking everything in, so I attempt a little humor:
“I guess that means Inspector Gadget doesn’t work here!”
Nobody laughs.

“Little shop of horrors”

Radiant guide moon, corrosion caused by vanadium oxide

Superheater second pass (1%CR) - Blistering - Burst in service

$Admiralty brass tube - Loss of ductibility and intragranular fracture$ Sulfur corrosion caused by HC at 370°C

Special support services

While I certainly won’t argue that a refining and petrochemical facility is no ordinary workplace, it still has the same support functions you’d find in any company. Human Resources for recruitment, Procurement for selecting external service providers and Communications for providing information on the site’s projects.

Once again, we’ve got a dynamic duo to guide us around the administrative building: Françoise and Sophie from Communications. Dynamic’s the word:

“Come see, you’ll be surprised — it’s only a half-hour walk from here.”
“I got you an appointment at 6:30 a.m. — I hope you’re a morning person!”
“You should sketch Chantal in HR. She’s got a lovely profile.”

They proudly show us around and take extra good care of us. Françoise and Sophie obviously aren’t chained to their desks. I realize that in the support functions too, everybody is full of energy!

Nature walk

The nature side

That might seem strange, because to be honest, we’ve just toured a jungle of pipes. Aside from the odd explorer dressed like an astronaut, you don’t run into many living creatures. That is, if you don’t look closely.
Because there are animals here, offering living proof of the facility’s good environmental health. The site takes the environment very seriously and carefully tracks its biodiversity.

Lots of insects, toads, lizards and birds have found little havens in and around the facility. I must say that I’m most surprised by the hawk and the bees.

The hawk

The hawk has built its nest up at the top of the flare. You can see the nest distinctly from the ground. Its occupant, however, has been playing hide-and-seek with us ever since we arrived. And in the end, it won.

The beehives

There are also three good-sized beehives set off on a little mound over by the cafeteria. They are well hidden too. At 120,000-strong, the bee populationis impressive and Paul, the beekeeper and a former employee, is proud to show them off.
“The noise calms them,” he says.
I look at Erwann walking towards the humming hives in his beekeeping outfit and think to myself that we’ll have really done just about everything during this trip!

Wednesday
July 5

The whistle blows, the doors close and the train pulls away from the station. It’s exactly 6:04 p.m. I look at Erwann sitting across from me as he leafs through his sketchpad again. My notebook is full too: full of people, stories and sensations.
The train’s steady movement starts to rock me to sleep. I close my eyes, exhausted but happy. Two hours later, I wake up to an announcement that we’re about to arrive in Paris.

And now we’re sharing our adventure Inside the Machine with you!

INSIDE THE MACHINE, A NINE EPISODES ADVENTURE TO SEE ON YOUR WAT PAGE EVERY WEEK

Art by Erwann Surcouf, text by Joss de Richoufftz, graphic design by Louis Brémont.
Published by Total Refining & Chemicals, concept by So Bam, creative content agency, digital version by Ligne13.