BASF Isononanol (INA) Plant

Client: BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec)

Location: Maoming, China

Business Segment: Energy Solutions

Industry: Chemicals

Services: Engineering and Design

Map showing the location of BASF Isononanol (INA) Plant

Executive Summary

Fluor completed the world-scale isononanol (INA) plant for BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) JV in 2015. Located in the Maoming Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, Maoming, China, the plant was a first-of-its-kind in Asia and will meet the growing demand for next-generation plasticizers. The new plant has an annual capacity of 180,000 metric tons of INA.

We applied our integrated project execution experience in China, including our knowledge of working with joint ventures involving multinational foreign investors and Chinese national oil companies, to complete the project safely and on schedule.

Client's Challenge

BASF and Sinopec identified this project as a schedule-driven, fast-track project. Ensuring this technologically-complex plant would be constructed safely, in a cost-effective manner and within the tight schedule served as a challenge to the team.

Fluor's Solution

Our Shanghai office executed the pre-front-end engineering and design (pre-FEED) support, FEED and detailed engineering, procurement and construction management for the plant, which included process units with supporting infrastructure, utilities and offsite facilities for the production of INA.

Though we had executed over 350 projects in China, the INA plant was one of the first self-performed comprehensive FEED projects to be done in China. It was also one of the first FEED projects executed entirely by a local Chinese team.

We integrated our construction expertise and planning into the design phase through a thorough constructability review. The review included detailed sequencing and installation planning to ensure construction of the dense and compact process units went efficiently and safely. An additional consideration was the assimilation of BASF mandatory specifications with local and Chinese codes and regulations.

During site execution, the project underwent health, safety & environmental (HSE) audits by BASF and Fluor, achieving the highest score in the Asia-Pacific region. The project was also recognized by Fluor's business line leadership with the 2014 Energy & Chemicals Asia-Pacific Region Top HSE Award, along with the 2014 Energy & Chemicals' Group President's HSE Award. Project completion was achieved without a recordable incident.

With time to market as the project's business driver, we completed the engineering, procurement and construction management on schedule. We also maximized the use of local suppliers for procurement and material, as well as managing Chinese construction contractors.

Conclusion

We drew on a broad set of tools and knowledge to provide solutions for the project.

The project was delivered safely and in a manner that met BASF and Sinopec's business needs.

The project was a continuation of the long-standing partnership among Fluor, BASF and Sinopec, building upon the successful completion of various projects at the Verbund site in Nanjing, China.