What we install
We install refractory linings in firebrick, dense and insulating castable, ceramic fibre board and modules, and insulation systems. The methods are the ones the specification calls for: brickwork, hand placing, ramming, gunning and casting. Where another contractor provides the labour, we supervise the installation instead.
A lining is only as good as the anchorage under it, so we also set out and weld hexmesh (hexmetal), V-anchors, bullhorn anchors and ceramic or metallic anchors as part of the same package. On energy-from-waste boilers we lay out, weld and install silicon-carbide tile systems on the water walls.
Equipment we work on
- FCCU reactors, regenerators, cyclones and transfer lines
- Hydrocrackers
- Furnaces and rotary kilns
- Incinerators and thermal oxidisers
- Biomass plant and waste heat boilers
Experience behind the work
Ron Ramsell, our Managing Director, moved into refractory in the early 1990s and has specialised in FCC units ever since. With previous employers he led the refractory installation of five new-build FCC units: the Honam refinery FCCU for Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, a new FCCU for BHPV at Visakhapatnam in India, the Mozyr refinery reactor and regenerator in Belarus, and both new FCC streams at LUKOIL Nizhny Novgorod (FCCU-1, 2008 to 2010, and FCCU-2, 2013 to 2014).
As RCSL we have carried out repeat refractory work for Calderys, including hydrocracker supervision at LUKOIL Kstovo in 2021 and the FCCU turnaround at Phillips 66 Humber in 2022. Recent work also includes anchorage welders for the regenerator refractory installation at the Saras refinery in Sardinia, and a partial reline of a thermal oxidiser in Erith, Kent. The full list is on our project references.
Who does the work
RCSL is a family-run refractory contractor based in Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. Ron Ramsell leads our projects, covering planning, site management and supervision of installation, inspection and anchorage work. He has worked in 16 countries and run turnarounds with crews of up to 110. Andrew Ramsell runs operations and holds the HSE Level 3 NVQ in Site Management Safety. Clients deal with the same two people from the first enquiry to handover.
Planned shutdowns and repairs
Most installation work happens inside a turnaround window, so we plan around it. Before mobilising we agree the extent of removal and replacement, who supplies materials, access and scaffolding, and the inspection and hold points. On site, the people who planned the job run it.
What to send with an enquiry
- Equipment drawings and the lining specification
- Extent of removal, repair or replacement
- Site location and the planned work window
- Who supplies materials, access and scaffolding
- The inspection and hold points required
Send these through our enquiry form or call Ron directly. For inspection or a second opinion on a lining, see refractory consultancy and refractory inspection.
Start a conversation
Planning a shutdown or chasing a lining problem?
Tell us the equipment, the site and your dates. We'll tell you how we can help and who will do the work.