MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mammoet completed the lifting of three columns for the Guru Gobind Singh Polymer Expansion Project in Bathinda, Punjab, India, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.
Thus, the team lifted a 1,305t ethylene fractionator, and 2 propylene fractionators weighing 1,200t and 2,490t - the second of which was lifted in two sections.
The MSG80 crane, which was locally available in India, was used for lifting of these three columns via a total of four lift operations. In addition, the team worked in double shifts to move the crane to a new location for the customer.
The MSG80 ring crane’s 3,000t lifting capacity and impressively small footprint for such a high load moment crane (34m diameter with 80,000 tonne-meters) made it ideal for the job. It made the project more convenient for the customer as heavy items could be fully dressed -eliminating the need for vertical assembly work on two of the units.
Work required was then significantly reduced for the third column, shortening the overall construction lead time. This in-country relocation of this MSG80 crane made the project more cost-effective compared to procuring a crane with same capabilities from a location further away. It also saved valuable time, allowing our customer to meet their challenging schedule.
While the initial coronavirus breakout and crisis placed travel restrictions on the Mammoet crew, the team remobilized through special arrangements and took on the challenge to accelerate the completion of the installations. Expanded working hours were implemented to ensure that the crane could be disassembled and reassembled in good time. Lastly, Mammoet cooperated with the plant owner and their construction team to complete the lifts and demobilized from site within the allotted schedule.
The completed project is part of an expansion plan to build an integrated petrochemical manufacturing site within Guru Gobind Singh’s current refinery complex. The refiner aims to increase India’s refined hydrocarbon product capacity.
As MRC informed earlier, in March 2019, Mammoet safely completed a critical lift at Shell’s Pennsylvania Chemicals Project in Potter Township, utilizing its MSG80 to hoist a 2,000 ton quench tower into position. The facility is the first major US project of its kind to be built outside of the Gulf Coast region in 20 years. Once operational, the facility will boast an ethane cracker and three polyethylene (PE) units.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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