Chemical Plant Rebuild

After a fire damaged Hoechst Celanese's chemical plant in Pampa, Texas, Fluor was awarded a contract for the demolition, engineering, procurement and construction of the new facility. Fluor rebuilt the three most severely damaged areas – the utilities area, reaction area and process compression area.

The Fluor team was on site within one week of the award to begin demolition, which was completed in 90 days. As damage assessment progressed, the scope was increased to include other areas of the plant. The rebuilt plant reached mechanical completion 14 months after the project award.

Client's Challenge

In late 1987, an explosion and fire at Hoechst Celanese's Pampa, Texas chemical plant caused extensive damage to the facility. The plant produces acetic acid, acetic anhydride, propionic acid and other petrochemicals.

Fluor's Solution

Fluor's design and engineering task force was mobilized from the Sugar Land, Texas office with support from the Irvine, California office. A project management and engineering office was also established in Pampa.

In conjunction with the rebuild, Fluor modernized the process instrumentation and included blast-resistant control buildings.

Conclusion

Engineering staff peaked at 600, and field staff and craft workers peaked at 3,600 within six months. The project achieved 2.9 million hours without a lost-time incident.