Shutdown Project Management

In recent years, the chemical companies have worked to respond to the significant increase in demand for their products. Due to the increasing competition from Asian producers, a key factor in the approval of new funds has been the return of investment in the shortest time. As a result, in Western Europe and the United States there has been an increase in projects aimed at modernizing, revamping, or increasing the capacity of existing facilities, as opposed to the traditional investments in Greenfield Projects.

Consequently, against this backdrop, DuPont® Advanced Fiber Systems (AFS) selected Fluor® to expand the capacity of its Nomex® fiber production plant in Asturias, Spain. DuPont’s experience with Fluor® Asturias in all of the facilities of this site, and the availability of local professionals with extensive experience in projects was key factors in this decision. The project scope included basic and detailed engineering, purchases, contracts, and construction management of the expansion. The plant worked continuously, with maintenance shutdowns occurring every two years.

 Project objectives were defined as follows:

• Zero health, safety, and environment (HSE) events
• Avoid production losses in the plant
• Minimize the duration of the shutdowns
• Expand production capacity without affecting the …