Turnaround at Grangemouth

The site hosts INEOS’ largest manufacturing asset which includes Scotland’s only crude oil refinery. KG is an ethylene cracker plant and manufactures the building blocks required for many of the chemical derivatives in manufacturing to produce a wide range of products used by consumers each day.

To keep these plants operating at their best they have routine turnarounds, commonly known as a TAR. This is a highly expensive planned period of regeneration in a plant or refinery. During this time, an entire part of the operation is offline whilst plants are inspected and revamped.

Not only are the tools and labour required for executing a turnaround extremely expensive, but the revenue lost through shutting down elements of production can amount to a significant portion of an annual budget. Turnarounds often throw up more issues than anticipated, making them difficult to keep on track, and requiring very experienced managers.

The Challenge

Wood Ltd deliver specialist engineering services and was tasked with managing a TAR for the KG plant by Ineos. Wood Ltd required a reliable and expert plant and equipment hire company with an extensive product portfolio to support the delivery of the high cost, time critical project.

The Solution

We are a multi-product specialist with a wealth of knowledge and experience in delivering solutions on the most complex of projects. We have worked on small and large-scale shutdowns or turnarounds for many customers across the power, petro-chemical, oil and gas industries.

Our team worked with Wood Ltd to ensure the right equipment was available, at the right time for the duration of the TAR. Due to external factors, there was a relatively short period of notice before the TAR was due to begin, but through a collaborative approach it had no impact on final delivery.

As a highly complex project our team supplied thousands of products, ranging from compressors, generators, torque guns, welding and pipework products, as well as various small tools. It also drew specialist equipment from other expert areas within the company such as pipe preparation and pressure testing equipment, all of which had to be fully calibrated and reliable.

To ensure the latest innovative equipment we also acquired specialist assets through partnering with third party specialist suppliers.

The Results

The TAR was delivered safely and on time, with all equipment required always being on hand. Our team understood the importance of timing and did everything possible to make every second of the engineers work count through delivering a great service.

David Wilson, Buyer, Wood Ltd thanked the Sunbelt team for its swift response and said the company appreciated the effort to collate the vast assortment of diverse products that they required often on short notice.