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RF MacDonald Co. offers sales, packaged systems design, service, installation, and parts for our customers!  

To request information or a quote, please use our Information/Quote request form.

BACKGROUND:

After the Kuwaiti oil field fires were put out, less than eight months after being set ablaze by withdrawing Iraqi troops, the country still suffered from enormous environmental problems.  Among the most serious were the vast lakes of oil that formed in the desert around leaking wells where the fire had been put out but the oil continued to flow.  There were approximately 200 such lakes, some more than a mile wide and several feet deep.  The lakes contained between 30 million to 60 million barrels of oil.  
 

PROJECT:KUWAIT OIL COMPANY, AL AWDA PROJECT
Bechtel requesting a proposal for pump systems to clean up the lakes of oil contacted R.F. MacDonald Co.  A very short time frame was available for all parties involved to respond due to the urgency of the situation. There were no formal specifications, only a brief set of performance requirements.  The request for quotation was received August 13, 1991 and our proposal was submitted by August 16.  After almost daily discussions and correspondence to address project clarifications, R.F. MacDonald Co. received orders for the two phases of our scope of supply on September 7 and 10 for a total of approximately $2,000,000.       

REQUIREMENTS: The project consisted of a total of ten pump systems.  Each system consisted of a self-contained hydraulically driven dredge pump and float set with diesel engine hydraulic power unit. The dredge pump acted as a charge pump to supply oil at 500 gpm and 50’ TDH to a high pressure tri-plex plunger pump and gearbox set also fully self-contained and skid mounted with a 240 HP diesel engine drive and all associated piping, fuel tank, controls, and control panels. All hoses and accessories were provided to interconnect the dredge and plunger pump sets to provide a complete system capable of simultaneously recovering and delivering the oil in the lakes to the existing oil field piping systems at pressures up to 1500 psi.  A total of 10 combination dredge and plunger pump sets were provided.

Even though the technical requirements for this project were complex and challenging, they almost pale by comparison to the lead time requirements.  The first four complete dual pump set were required by October 20, 1991 and two additional pump sets were require per week thereafter until all ten sets were furnished.  In addition each unit required a factory inspection by Bechtel personnel prior to shipment.  With a combined cooperative effort and must do attitude between all parties, all units were delivered on schedule to Houston to participate in the unprecedented airfreight shipment of equipment to Kuwait.

 In addition to the supply of equipment, R.F. MacDonald Co. had field personnel on site in Kuwait by the first week of November to oversee successful equipment start up.

 R.F. MacDonald Co. is proud to have been able to participate and meet the demanding expectations of this unprecedented multi-national effort.  It wasn’t until weeks after receipt of the award from Bechtel that we were aware of the scope of competing bids under evaluation.  Large pump companies from around the world had submitted proposals on this project.  It was R.F. MacDonald Co.’s ability to quickly respond to the customer’s technical needs and incredibly fast paced production requirements that landed us the job.  On December 4, 1991, we received a letter from Bechtel thanking us for our contributions on this project.