Mammoet transports and lifts components of ethane cracker plant
13 June 2017 by Sotiris KanarisMammoet recently completed the transport and lift of two key components for Sasol’s Ethane Cracker and Derivatives project in Louisiana, USA.
The Ethylene Oxide Ethylene Glycol (EOEG) reactor is the heaviest vessel on the project, weighing 1,523USt. It was transported at night on triple wide, 25 axle-lines of Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) in just two hours. After arrival at the staging area, the vessel was lifted and set using Mammoet’s MSG-80 ring crane and a CC-12600 crawler crane with an 820USt tailing load to maneuver the reactor into the upright position.
The wash tower, the project’s tallest vessel reaching 98m, was also transported and lifted into place. The component was moved at night on double-wide, 16 axle-lines of SPMT with 783USt turntables, in an operation that took four hours. The wash tower lift was executed with the MSG-80 and 2,205USt double beam tail frame on triple wide, 16 axle-lines of SPMTs.
In an earlier phase in the project, Mammoet had coordinated the arrival of these vessels by barge.
These vital components are part of the new ethane cracker plant, under construction in Southwest Louisiana. When completed, the project will provide an impressive annual production capacity of 1.5m tons of ethylene, feeding six chemical manufacturing plants. The facility is expected to begin commissioning in 2018.
