Client: Fortune 500 Agricultural Chemical Company
Industry: Agricultural Chemicals
Key System Features and Advantages:
- Customized Modular Construction Design
- 16 stainless steel chemical storage vessels
- Automated metering systems for each unique chemical
- Multi-level design that maximizes equipment accessibility
Core Challenges:
- Highly synchronized installation timeline
- Complex equipment and piping layout due to condensed footprint
- Supplier delivery of critical equipment that did not meet EPIC QA standards
- Aggressive project completion timeline
Solution Summary
Schedule compression can bring total success or failure to a chemical distribution system. When engineered and fabricated correctly, it can be the most tangible benefit of the many modular construction advantages.
To meet a tight installation window, EPIC Process Systems designed and fabricated a process system to feed a customer’s plant production lines. Design, engineering and fabrication occurred simultaneously with site and facilities construction.
The distribution system was engineered and designed to meter 15 various chemicals to plant production lines. Piping and equipment layout was carefully planned early in the design process to accommodate the dense placement of equipment and instrumentation. This system design allowed for increased production flexibility to accommodate many different product variations.
Team Problem Solving
EPIC’s engineering /design teams and our fabrication craftsmen worked together in one location to achieve cohesion. Our project managers and QA teams closely monitored fabrication and module assembly.
This close relationship uncovered vendor supplied equipment that did not meet our stringent quality standards. EPIC’s quality control teamwork allowed us to deliver on our promised timeline. EPIC worked collaboratively with the supplier and our client to resolve the issue without endangering our tight installation window.
Deconstruction by Design
Plant operations can inhibit new ideas and processes. This is especially true when the location of the new system must be installed in difficult to reach locations. Reducing plant disruption is EPIC’s specialty.
The customer’s distribution system was installed in a central location in the plant on the second story. Had the process system not been completed at its scheduled installation window, site construction would be halted on a critical plant build.
It would not usually be cost effective to install a process system on an interior second story of a plant after it had been built. The customers only other alternative would have been to “stick build” the chemical distribution system. That alternative was not sufficient to meet the customer’s aggressive schedule.
EPIC designed the system in sections that allowed for reconstruction at the plant and delivered the modular chemical distribution system on time and as specified by our customer.
Impact:
- Critical process equipment was engineered, built, dismantled, assembled and installed in an interior location within the process plant
- Increased chemical distribution flexibility for large number of formula variations
EPIC SYSTEMS