Shell Chemical is on track to start production at what will become the biggest alpha olefins (AO) plant in the world next year.
According to the company, construction is running on time at its manufacturing site in Geismar, Louisiana, where it is adding a 425,000-ton-per-year AO unit. That addition will make the facility the biggest AO producer in the world. It is also one of Shell’s biggest chemical investments in the U.S.
“We are on track to begin commercial production by the end of 2018, enabling Shell to remain an important economic engine for this region,” the executive vice president for Shell’s global chemical business said in a statement.
Construction has been ongoing since January 2016. So far, Shell says it has safely placed several of the plant’s biggest equipment including reactors, columns and vessels.
While many of the region’s new construction projects have been running late and over-schedule, Shell has so far kept its scheduling promises.
According to a recent article in Business Report, one approach that has made Shell more efficient is its use of modularization, or, preassembling certain plant units.
“Had we not done it this way, we would’ve added to the construction time at the back end because nothing would’ve progressed until the foundations were completed,” Shell’s AO4 project manager said.
Shell also reportedly keeps to an extremely detailed schedule that is forecasted for three months out.
According to Shell, the AO project currently employees about 1,500 construction workers and will ultimately create 700 permanent jobs.
