Fluor ethane cracker project hits milestone

Fluor Corp. has announced that it has completed the tallest lift on its US Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical).

Fluor, in a joint venture with JGC, is performing the engineering, procurement and construction of a 1.5 million tpy ethane cracker and associated offsite components at Chevron Phillips Chemical’s existing Cedar Bayou complex in Baytown, Texas. Fluor direct-hire craft workers are executing construction for the project, which is the first greenfield cracker project in the United States in more than a decade and will be one of the largest crackers in the United States when completed.

Over the past three months, Fluor has executed nine mega-lifts at the site by erecting the major pieces of equipment that will be used in the plant’s operations. Each lift was more than 275 t, with three of the lifts weighing more than 500 t. The final lift, to erect a C2 Splitter (used for olefin separation) that is part of the ethane cracker, was more than 250 ft tall and weighed more than 570 t. Two best-in-class cranes were needed to lift the unit, which weighs more than 300 cars. All nine lifts were completed safely and on schedule.

“Achieving this milestone is a testament to the dedication and commitment of our 2500 craft workers currently at the site,” said Jim Brittain, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals business in the Americas. “We are deploying our full suite of integrated solutions—including our self-perform construction expertise, innovative construction execution methodologies and unique scaffolding partnership—to meet Chevron Phillips Chemical’s cost and schedule goals.”

Construction has begun on the world-class furnaces and aboveground piping systems.

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/04112015/fluor-ethane-cracker-project-hits-milestone-1541/