FOR L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), 8 July was a red-letter day. For on this day, its n-Paraffin & Derivatives Complex for Farabi Petrochemicals in Saudi Arabia achieved commercial completion, reaching an important milestone that had been in the making for nearly four years.
One of the world’s leading producers of n-paraffin and linear alkyl benzene, Farabi Petrochemicals Company awarded the contract to LTHE in 2017. LTHE’s first large-scale greenfield petrochemical complex project in Saudi Arabia, the contract mandated setting up a new n-paraffin and linear alkyl benzene facility in the Yanbu industrial area.
A large and complex undertaking, the project involved setting up an integrated facility with main process units, downstream units, utility units, tank farm, off-plot pipelines and infrastructure facilities including an administrative facility, technical building, laboratory, maintenance building, fire station, kitchen, canteen, and gate houses with visitor facilities.
Spread over an area of 1800m x 430m comprising 19 process units, 16 utility units, and offsite facilities, the project was a constant race against time with a schedule of 32 months – from start to start-up – and necessitated mobilisation of a huge workforce (approx. 7000 at peak) of different nationalities.
LTHE divided the project into four areas with each declared as a sub-project. Dedicated teams were assigned to each area to execute engineering, procurement, construction, and project management. The project team harnessed the latest digitalisation tools to plan and monitor an integrated EPCC schedule and the interfaces with all stakeholders.
All the process units (linear alkyl benzene, n-paraffin & specialty oils) were commissioned progressively from August 2020 and have been under normal operations since October 2020.
The commercial completion is especially praiseworthy in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which, while threatening, did not adversely affect site operations or the project timelines. Further, the record of 35.1 million safe man-hours on the project stands as proof of LTHE’s commitment to safety and excellence in health, safety & environment.
