The two orders that Walter Tosto has just won for the construction of critical components for three important plants in Russia, where the Abruzzo group has been permanently present for more than 20 years, are worth 60 million. In the Gulf of Finland, near Ust-Luga, in the Leningrad region, 10 appliances will be installed for a natural gas treatment plant and a chemical plant. A complex which, once completed, will become the largest ethylene integration project in the world. The chemical natural gas treatment plant will include two ethylene cracking sites, each with a capacity of 1.4 million tons / year, six polyethylene trains with a combined capacity of 480 thousand tons / year. “The components we will supply represent the most critical parts of the plant – explains CEO Luca Tosto -: once completed they will reach a weight ranging from 450 to 800 tons each”.
The most fascinating ones are called Gas Phase Reactors, six massive reactors that have the same shape of a match with a spherical tip. Polyethylene is produced in these reactors, the thermoplastic polymer most produced in the world for its versatility and for its multiple uses (insulating wires and cables, pipes, bottles, tools, shopping bags, toys and more).
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The second supply is destined for two twin plants for the production of mineral fertilizers, south of St. Petersburg, where one of the largest producers in the world is based. These plants, which will make use of ammonia technology guaranteed by one of the most prestigious American process licensees, are called proprietary equipment and, seen from the outside, they look like large cylindrical bodies (WT will supply 12, ed.), “But inside they have the complexity of a Swiss watch, with mechanical components that must be mounted together with very tight tolerances ». Size, weight, technology: “These are some of the complex items that were requested of us and to which we responded – says Tosto -: in the world we are considered as a reliable, strategic and long-term partner, able to provide a wide range of know-how. -how in the production process and the highest quality standards ».
To which is added the respect of deadlines: the delivery must be made within 90 weeks, in November of next year, and in WT are now looking at the logistics for the delivery, since these large equipment are transported by sea-river and in Russia, at that time, there is a strong risk of having to deal with internal river routes that are already frozen; what, on the other hand, might have seemed a serious problem, that is, the delivery of large structures with the same timing, has been overcome thanks to the organization of the holding company of the Tosto family, which controls WT and since 2016, after having acquired it from the Americans of Exterran, also Belleli Energy CPE. It will be the historic Mantuan company, leader in the design and construction of equipment for oil plants, to support its sister company in Theatine.The group led by Luca Tosto, a galaxy with 1,100 employees, closed 2020 with a consolidated turnover of over 200 million euros, with an increase of close to 10% compared to the previous year, which is also the forecast for 2021. “Alongside the growth in turnover – Tosto comments – this year we plan to bring about fifty young people to the team, who have successfully completed an internal training course within the group. And being attractive to young talents is fundamental for us to confirm ourselves at levels of global excellence ».