27 bullet tanks at the bullet tank area of Sinopec Nanjing Engineering’s Amiral project in Saudi Arabia have begun to be shipped

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On July 10, the first two covered spherical tanks, which are the core equipment for Saudi Aramco’s Amiral project and were under EPC general contracting by Sinopec Nanjing Engineering Company, passed the factory inspection and were officially shipped to the project site. This marks a significant breakthrough in the delivery of key equipment for this project, which involves a very long construction period. The Amiral project’s bullet tank farm is the largest of its kind in the Middle East, consisting of 27 bullet tanks. Each of the equipment units shipped this time is 75.5 meters long and 8.5 meters in diameter, with a weight of over 950 tons. Due to the significant differences in the design of buried bullet tanks compared to conventional horizontal tanks, it is necessary to take into account the load exerted by the soil as well as the heat dissipation requirements in desert environments with high temperatures; this demands a very high level of precision in structural calculations. To this end, the design team actively coordinated close collaboration among various specialties to define the input condition nodes based on the manufacturing process. At the same time, by leveraging domestic and international technical expertise, material selection options were optimized through professional calculations, thereby gaining the approval of the client. The optimization solution not only improved procurement efficiency but also effectively reduced manufacturing complexity and time periods. This equipment represents the project’s first long-term equipment contract, with a total procurement volume of over 20,000 tons; it is also the company’s largest order for similar facilities in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is currently in a peak investment period, with local manufacturers operating at full capacity. To ensure the timely delivery of the equipment, the project procurement team, in collaboration with the client, assigned dedicated personnel to the factory to urge progress, held regular coordination meetings, and made every effort to monitor the production schedule. The company’s procurement department actively coordinates the payment of equipment progress payments. Through the joint efforts of all parties, the first batch of equipment was delivered 90 days earlier than planned, laying a solid foundation for subsequent installation. Given the large size of the equipment and the difficulties associated with its transportation, the project team assembled a specialized team to plan the transportation process in advance, successfully obtaining all necessary approvals from various parties including the local government’s transportation authorities. The project team worked closely with the transportation units to advance the daily assembly of the large-scale transport vehicles in accordance with the transportation schedule and the batches in which the equipment was manufactured, thereby ensuring the safe shipment of the first batch of equipment. Going forward, the project team will work with the transportation company to plan the key routes for delivery, closely monitor the shipping progress, and ensure that the equipment is delivered safely and promptly to the construction site.