Strategies for Facilities Renewal

Abstract

As the current round of expansions within the petrochemical industry is reaching its peak, it is evident that the United States based petrochemical industry is still viable and continues to have a long future. This thinking was not always the case, particularly in the early 1980's. The high price of hydrocarbon raw materials, large world-scale plants being constructed overseas, and the strong dollar had large portions of the industry shutting in capacity and consequently doubting their future. Such is no longer the case, and site managers are facing the necessity of renewal of the non-manufacturing infrastructure of facilities to insure that they are safe, reliable, and in full environmental compliance into the 21st century. In addition, this renewal must be accomplished while competing for funds and people resources with the many manufacturing expansions that are planned and underway. This paper discusses some of the considerations and strategies being employed at a large petrochemical manufacturing site in order to meet those infrastructure renewal needs.