Page 24 - Industrial Plant 2015

Fig. 2 – Polyethylene containers, in both cases directly loaded on containers •
loop and gas phase ships coming to Ruwais on daily basis.
reactors Massive dimensions in terms of quantities and numbers
give an idea of the complexity of the project. In
particular, the most significant key parameters can be
summarized as follows:
• structural concrete: 205,000 m3;
• steel structures: 25,000 tons;
• equipment: 27,000 tons;
• piping isometrics: 50,000 nos;
• piping quantity: 1,600,000 inch dia;
• control buildings and electrical substations: 13
nos;
• instrumentation loop checks: 31,000 nos;
• electrical and instrumentation cables: 4,300 km.
These huge numbers have always been an area of
attention to focus on from the very beginning and have
indeed motivated all participants in a passionate hard
work for the success of this project.
The plant reached the operation stage and started
commercial production in 2014 (figure 2).
The challenges
Borouge 3 might have seemed a project to which “the
road was paved” since it was about polymer plants,
well known technology to Tecnimont. It should have
been a copy plant of Borouge 2, however the reality
proved to be far different. Brand new challenges were
launched:
• implementing a contract with a joint venture
Korean partner, whose mindset is of a military
imprint and who are extremely proud of belonging
to a fast growth country;
• work with operating sites located in different area
of the globe Milan, Malta, Seoul, Mumbai,
Braunschweig, Abu Dhabi and Ruwais;
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manage in parallel the execution of a megaproject
of five process plants, awarded in a highly
aggressive arena of competitors, leading to the
involvement of new and numerous suppliers on
an international scale;
• manage an overheated vendor market in UEA,
MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, as
well as in Korea, due to booming of investments
in UAE, where a large number of big projects were
simultaneously awarded; congested conditions of
ABU Dhabi port were also to be faced;
• scarcity in skilled workmen due to the large
number of big projects simultaneously awarded in
the UAE market;
• constructing in a sandy environment like Ruwais
for the first time in the world an LDPE plant
peculiar on two counts, for the technical requisite
of the cleanliness of the materials, requiring a total
absence of impurities (and sand) also invisible to
the naked eye, and for the high pressure
technology in which the process fluids reach
pressure levels over 3,000 atm, demanding the
highest standard of quality and safety.
Set at the dinner of the first team-building session in an
eatery at the surrounding of Milan, we looked at each
other and counted 11 people sitting at the same table,
11 different nationalities. Rightly we thought that the
biggest challenge was certainly going to be
communication. Different languages, cultures,
behaviors and style of life must live side by side,
integrate and achieve one common goal: satisfy the
expectations of everyone, from the end user through
the 11,000 workers which populated at the peak the
Ruwais Construction Site.
The execution: key factors
Construction-oriented engineering
The engineering started before the formal signature of
the contract and were conducted and completed
throughout the project on the early schedule (figure 3),
also thanks to Tecnimont experience and expertise in
polymers units, in PE/PP Borealis and LDPE Basell
technologies and in Borouge standards and
specifications. This anticipation was a key element to
provide sufficient room for the more difficult phases of
construction to follow.
In fact, the first P&IDs, as well as material requisitions
for critical items were issued as early as the 2nd month.
The 3D modeling was also done much earlier than
normal and by month 18th, 90% 3D model was ready.
This gave a distinctive advantage to the procurement
and construction phases.
This approach resulted to be successful in providing