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Partnership to produce AM parts for oil refineries

Additive manufacturing (AM) specialist 3D Metalforge has partnered with oil firm Par Pacific to identify parts that can be produced via AM and introduced at its refineries.

Par Pacific operates three US-based oil refineries with a total capacity of 154,000 barrels per day. 

Once the firm has field tested the identified and additively manufactured parts in accordance with API (American Petroleum Institute) standards, it plans to introduce them into its regular supply chain. 

This will initially be done at Par Pacific’s Hawaii refinery before being expanded to its others in Wyoming and Washington.

3D Metalforge CEO, Matthew Waterhouse said: ‘We are thrilled to be starting this project with Par Pacific and having an opportunity to show how our additive technology can help refineries make their operations and supply chains more robust and sustainable.’

The new partnership is further proof that AM is increasingly being integrated into demanding application environments.

Earlier this year, a research collaboration also announced its intentions to optimise the oil & gas supply chain using AM, with plans to develop and validate AM methodologies for the manufacturing and qualification of critical components over the next two years.

Meanwhile, in the nuclear power sector, four 3D-printed fuel assembly brackets were recently installed at a reactor facility in Athens, Alabama, and are now under routine operation. Two Canadian companies have also recently announced their collaboration to develop additively manufactured parts for the nuclear power sector.

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