International Diol Company (previously known as GACIC), an affiliate of Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem), commenced an ambitious Butanediol (BDO) project in March 2003 with the award of an USD 150 million lump sum turn key contract to Aker Solutions. The contract was secured by Aker Solutions against international competition and it sits firmly in the Group’s core area of technology focus within the natural gas chain. With an enviable safety record of more than seven million man-hours without a lost time incident, and an on-site workforce of more than 1600 working in temperatures in excess of 50 degrees centigrade in the shade, this world-class BDO facility was completed at the end of 2005.
Saudi International Petrochemical Company, a Saudi Arabian joint stock company, was established in 1999 to set up a number of joint venture chemical production companies with foreign partners. The aim of these companies is to produce and market a selection of speciality chemicals using local resources, infrastructure and expertise wherever possible, and of course utilizing the bountiful resource of oil and natural gas from the Kingdom. International Diol Company is one such company – owner of this grassroots facility producing BDO and derivatives. The plant has been built on Sipchem’s large joint venture petrochemical complex located in the Jubail Industrial City, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The 75,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) BDO facility produces a range of butane-based chemical applications including butanediol and tetrahydrofuran. As one of the world's fastest growing chemicals BDO is an important and growing intermediate in the manufacture of products such as high performance plastics, sports clothing, coatings and electronic chemicals.
Proven technology know-how
Proprietary technology provided by UOP converts raw butane (a mixture of iso- and normal-butane) to normal butane utilizing a reverse butamer process, the first plant of its kind. Technology provided by Huntsman Corporation is being used to convert the normal butane to Maleic Anhydride. This is then processed into BDO using technology provided by Davy Process Technology (DPT). DPT’s BDO technology is a well-established, low cost, esterification process with vapor phase hydrogenation. It yields few by-products giving high process efficiency and product quality, with low environmental impact.
Aker Solutions has built up considerable experience in working with DPT’s BDO technology, having worked on half the projects where this technology has been licensed – including a 34,000 tpa BDO and derivatives facility for the Taiwan Chemical Corporation; followed by the 100,000 tpa facility completed in 2003 for BASF PETRONAS at its Gebeng complex in Kuantan, Malaysia. Aker Solutions' experience of working with these technologies proved to be one of the key factors in International Diol Company’s selection criteria.
Ray Bisley, Aker Solutions' Project Director on the BDO project, agrees: “Over the last ten years, there have been a number of major improvements in the application of this technology. And Aker Solutions' experience in the chemical reaction steps and unit operations proved invaluable throughout this project. The close cooperation between Aker Solutions and the technology owners, DPT, Huntsman and UOP, was fundamental to ensuring that licensee requirements were translated into the final design effectively and efficiently.”
Global execution strategy
Aker Solutions' extensive track record of delivering multifaceted hydrocarbons projects in challenging locations around the world was also an important factor to the successful completion of a facility on this scale. For this reason, the International Diol Company project followed an entirely integrated project strategy, where the project team was based mainly where the major activity in a given phase of the project could be best handled from.
Aker Solutions' comprehensive and standardized Information Technology systems, together with the Project Execution Model, were used extensively for project controls and information management. “To achieve real customer focus and total integration with its customers’ business objectives, Aker Solutions values an open working relationship. Our Project Execution Model provides the structure to track progress openly and better manage risk, enabling the organisation to provide customers with transparency and greater predictability," explains Johan Cnossen, President of Aker Solutions' European process business.
With engineering and procurement activities executed in different locations, a tailored degree of screening and checking was required on the International Diol Company project to ensure that all information was accurate, complete and up-to-date. “Initially, the project kicked off from Aker Solutions' Zoetermeer office in The Netherlands,” says Bisley. “The engineering and procurement was executed from here, with particular focus early in the schedule on the critical large equipment items. The equipment on the plant is as international as the project team with over 50 critical equipment items being sourced from Europe, USA, Asia and Saudi Arabia.”
“The in-Kingdom procurement scope was more than originally projected, and the Group’s AK Gulf operations in Saudi Arabia were closely involved throughout the project and proved invaluable in the support they provided,” he adds. The joint venture with Saudi Pan Gulf (75% Aker Solutions ownership and 25% Saudi Pan Gulf ownership) also provided additional in-house facilities and good access to the business community in Saudi Arabia. AK Gulf’s main focus is to support Aker Solutions projects in Saudi Arabia and leverage its local project execution and business development capabilities.
“Certain elements of the engineering were executed outstandingly, and this was latterly recognized by the construction team, the subcontractors and International Diol Company,” continues Bisley. “In particular, the civil and structural steel engineering performed in Zoetermeer exceeded everyone's expectations, and the strategy of having In Kingdom engineering presence throughout the fabrication phase was hugely successful.”
HSE top of the agenda
“Aker Solutions has good links with the local construction companies – there are some very good companies in Saudi Arabia. They have been handling the work for the last 30 years, so they are very integrated and can handle all the elements required. For the International Diol Company project, Aker Solutions used two local construction companies – Nasser S Al Hajri (NSH) and S A Kentz (SAK) - and this made management and communication, particularly from the HSE perspective, significantly smoother.”
“It’s a challenging location with some extreme temperatures to operate in. This and the complexity of the plant itself reinforced the importance of treating health, safety and the environment as the absolute priority.” Bisley goes on to explain that the plant is designed in accordance with the local and national Royal Commission (RC) requirements, of which the High Commission for Industrial Security regulations are also to be satisfied. “These required the compilation of a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report for the project, and this report documents that the emissions of the new BDO facility are well below the statutory RC requirements.”
“The safety performance on site has also been outstanding,” he continues. This was a high priority both for International Diol Company and Aker Solutions. The team completed more than seven million man-hours without a lost time incident. This achievement was made possible by the extraordinary efforts of the integrated site safety management team with members from Aker Solutions, International Diol Company, Sipchem, and main subcontractors NSH and SAK all working cohesively.
“The team also had the additional heightened security issues to integrate into the HSE program. This required additional preparedness and close monitoring in consultation with the appropriate authorities, International Diol Company, Aker Solutions employees, and the subcontractors. Key elements included the extensive security presence to control access to the site facilities; restrictions on movement of personnel where necessary; and evacuation plans being reviewed and tested, with controls tightened as deemed prudent.”
Completion ahead of schedule
The contractual scope included commissioning, start up and bringing the facility into initial commercial operation. From the very start, the project was completions-driven with the commissioning manager mobilized during detailed engineering. His task was to break the project down into logical commissioning systems, of which there were 204 in total, in a sequence that optimized the time required to bring the facility into full production. All deliverables (P&ID’s, isometrics, loop diagrams, equipment lists, etc) contained the system number to which it belonged. This allowed a phased transition from construction to commissioning according to the preset plan and, in line with licensor, packaged vendor and operator requirements.
This phased handover created the added complication of introducing hydrocarbons during start-up while construction works were being completed. However, with focus remaining on HSE, the safety procedures, commissioning procedures, permitting requirements and PSSR walk-downs (Pre Start-up Safety Review) ensured the safety of all personnel during this transition period.
The project reached mechanical completion in August 2005. Mehdi Adib, Vice President of Projects, Sipchem, concludes: “Aker Solutions, International Diol Company and the Licensors’ management and coordination teams were fully integrated together, an approach that yields better results and higher performance all round.”
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