INEOS Mercury Polyalphaolefins Projects

INEOS Oligomers is building a new world scale, low viscosity Polyalphaolefin (PAO) unit on the INEOS site at Chocolate Bayou, Texas.

In joint venture with a partner, Kent is responsible for the EPC of the PAO facility including the associated offsite tankage. The PAO Unit is based on INEOS’ proprietary technology. The unit will have a production capacity of 120,000 metric tons per annum and become the world’s largest single PAO train. The project scope is divided into two process areas identified as ISBL and OSBL.

These areas include the Power Control Room 3 (PCR-3), reactor columns, a flare knock out drum and tank farms.

Our scope as the EPC contractor is to supply all management, engineering, supervision, labor, equipment, materials, tools, consumable supplies, services, testing devices, warehousing, etc. for the design, supply, fabrication, erection, inspection, quality control testing and quality assurance of the project on a nominal 14-month engineering schedule. Our responsibilities in the joint venture include pre-commissioning with start-up and commissioning by the owner. Additionally, we are performing some U/G demolition in the OSBL area to make it ready for construction.

Our engineering team is drawing on resources from across our regions. At the peak of the detailed design phase, the team was over 90 full-time equivalents (FTEs) between our Houston and Mumbai offices, with approximately 60% utilisation from our wholly owned High Value Engineering Center (HVEC) in Mumbai. We’ve completed all model reviews with the client with minimum comments and changes. This project has been a great example of how we are collaborating across our teams and regions as one business to deliver results for our client