John Crane, a global leader in flow control technologies and a business of Smiths Group plc, helped a major refinery in Bavaria, Germany, restart on schedule by refurbishing two critical Type 28XP dry gas seals in six weeks. The accelerated response cut the usual 16-to-18-week lead time by more than 60 per cent and safeguarded at least €1 million in production for every week of delay avoided.

The seals support a compressor essential to the refinery unit, which cannot operate without it. John Crane estimates that each week of delay could have put at least €1 million in production at risk—a deliberately conservative figure. It is consistent with wider industry research from McKinsey & Company, which estimates that reliability-related lost-profit opportunities can reach US$20 million to $50 million annually for a mid-sized refinery.

After a shutdown was confirmed at short notice, the refinery needed both tandem Type 28XP non-contacting dry gas seals inspected, repaired, dynamically tested and returned within six weeks. A standard refurbishment schedule would have missed the planned restart by 10 to 12 weeks.

John Crane mobilised its global service and supply network to meet the deadline. Its dry gas seal service centre in Japan was the only facility able to prioritise the work immediately. Metal components were produced in the Czech Republic, while specialist suppliers accelerated delivery of the seal faces.

Teams in Germany and Japan tracked each stage through weekly progress reviews with the refinery, identifying and addressing schedule risks as they arose. Both seals completed inspection, repair and dynamic testing and were returned within the shutdown window, allowing the refinery to resume production as planned.

Christian Naldini, VP, Europe, John Crane, said, “With at least €1 million in production at risk for every week of delay, there was no room for the refurbishment to overrun. By mobilising our teams and supply network across Germany, Japan and the Czech Republic, we completed in six weeks work that would typically take 16 to 18 weeks.

“The refinery restarted as planned, avoiding shutdown-related production losses and returning this critical equipment to reliable service.”

The project was delivered through John Crane Performance Plus service solutions, which help customers improve rotating-equipment reliability and respond to critical maintenance demands. The coordinated response removed 10 to 12 weeks from the usual lead time and kept the repair within the customer’s shutdown window.