These are notes I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Monaca, PA: Shell building a polyethylene plant on brownland
Les Sawyer posted
Shell cracker plant, Monaca, Pa. Largest collection of cranes this region has ever seen. Including the largest crane ever built. Matthew MenardI know exactly where that's at. The company that i used to work for is hauling huge parts up there by boat.
[I discuss "largest crane" below.]
Shell is building a cracking plant that makes polyethylene from natural gas wells. It will create 6000 construction jobs at its peak in June 2019 and 600 permanent jobs. The construction effort is the equivalent of 25 stadiums. It "will use low-cost ethane from shale gas producers to produce 1.6 million tons of polyethylene each year. Polyethylene is used in countless products, from food packaging to plastic containers to automotive parts." The location is within 700 miles of 70% of the North American polyethylene customers. [CBSlocal, TheTimes-Union] Polyethylene is the feedstock for many plastic products, and this plant will produce 1.6 million metric tons per year. Construction of the plant is expected to cost $6 billion and will take several years. [TheTimes-Downstream] Or the cost might be $10 billion. [TheTelegraph]
In the CBSlocal video, everybody is talking about the new jobs and reviving an area that lost their steel mills. I hope ten years from now they are not talking about the pollution and cancer. Then I discovered that some are already talking about it. [PresbyterianChurchesOppose, Activist]
Shell is buying buffer property and and installing four fenceline monitors. The EPA has just recently forced companies in Southeast Chicago to install air quality monitors. The plant will include a water treatment plant.
Northwestern Pennsylvania was where oil was first discovered. It also has the Marcellus and Utica shale regions. Horizontal drilling and fracking technologies have turned these regions into major producers of methane (natural gas). This area has "wet wells" so ethane, an abundant natural gas liquid (NGL), is a byproduct of natural gas production. This plant will convert the ethane into polyethylene resin pellets, which is raw plastic that other companies make into a multitude of plastic products. Shell had exited the plastics business. But now that they are building "the first U.S. petrochemicals project built outside of the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana in several decades," they are resurrecting their Shell Polymers brand name. [MarcellusDrilling] At least they don't have to worry about shutting down the plant for approaching hurricanes.
According to TimesOnline-tower, that is the world's largest crane. According to BizJournals (one access before hitting a paywall), it is the third-largest crane in the world. The 288' tall, 29' diameter, 2000 ton quench tower is the tallest and heaviest piece in the plant. It was shipped from Houston on a barge via the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. A special dock along the river was built to receive it, and it arrived in June. The crane itself was a construction project. It had to be reserved a year in advance and it took six weeks to build it for this one lift made between 4am and 3:30pm on Oct 7, 2018. The crane was expected to be disassembled and taken off-site around Thanksgiving. [TimesOnlne-tower, BizJournals]
TimesOnline-roof, Kevin Lorenzi/BCT Staff
[The two blue tower cranes were used to build the walls.]
They raised the 580,000 lb roof for the ethylene storage tank using three fans and some (0.2 psi) air pressure. The tank is 100' tall and 150' in diameter and can store about 8 million gallons. The roof was built in large pieces in Mississippi and shipped by barge. Floating a roof to the top is a common practice in the industry. In this case 40 workers watched during the 1.5 hours it took to float it to its final destination for welding. [TimesOnline-roof] I wonder how you make the seal between the roof and the walls.
Bechtel
"A large storage-in-transit rail yard" will be part of the plant.
What is ethane?
Ethane, like propane and butane, is a natural gas liquid (NGL) found in certain natural gas deposits, including the Marcellus and Utica Shale Formations. NGLs are separated from natural gas and used for a variety of industrial, residential and commercial uses. Ethane is primarily used to create ethylene and will be the primary raw material for this facility.
What is polyethylene?
Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) is the primary raw material for items like flexible food packaging and pouches, collation shrink wrap, stretch film, protective packaging, flexible tubing, sports equipment (canoes), industrial equipment (tornado shelters), wire and cable insulation, and agricultural films.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is used to create “stiffer” products such as toys, crates, drums, shampoo bottles, milk jugs, detergent/bleach bottles, pails (buckets), environmental liners, paint containers, garden furniture and other types of housewares.
[Bechtel]
The beautiful story here in this scene? Seeing the smoke from one dying plant : first energy / beaver county nuclear power plant going strong in the background / whilst a new chemical plant being raised / constructed in the foreground!
Add the fog disappearing / burning off the river and I just love the photo!
Not sure how long you can view this Timesonline article without a subscription but here is a link to this awesome crane!
Samuel MikeCredit of the following article is 100 percent that of Beaver County Times :
Two of the largest cranes in the world have been brought to the Shell Chemicals ethane cracker plant site to assist in construction there.
POTTER TWP. — Two of the largest cranes in the world have been brought to the Shell Chemicals ethane cracker plant site to assist in construction there.
Shell spokesman Joe Minnitte said Thursday that the larger of the two cranes is nearly 675 feet tall with an attachment and can lift 3,500 tons at a time at its max capacity. The crane is so large that in order to weigh it down on the ground, 35 shipping containers — each 40 feet long — will be filled with sand to provide the counterweight.
The crane, which is officially called the PTC 200 DS heavy lift crane and is owned and operated by a company called Mammoet, has been used around the world in large refinery and petrochemical projects.
There are at least two models of the crane in existence, one of which was to construct the Dubai Observation Wheel, which is the world’s tallest Ferris wheel at nearly 700 feet tall. The crane being used on the Shell site has spent most of its life in the United States, Canada and South America.
Minnitte added Thursday that Shell had to reserve the crane 18 months in advance of using it because of its high demand for use. The crane, which will be on site for about a year, will make 45 “lifts” on site and will be used to lift modules, silos, structural steel assemblies and other large material.
A second large crane also arrived on site recently. Called the MSG 80, the crane is 430 feet high and can lift 3,000 metric tons, but is only configured on the Shell site to be able to list 2,075 metric tons maximum.
The smaller crane, which will only be on site for about four months, will lift the quench tower for the cracker plant, which is the heaviest piece of equipment for the entire project. It is also one of the tallest and largest diameter-vessels on the project.
The MSG crane had to be booked a year in advance before being brought to the Shell site.
Samuel commented on his own posting
This is shot taken with my iPhone.
Jason Irwin shared Samuel's posting Jason IrwinRumor has it they're going to be building another one of these cracker plants in Southeastern Ohio. They're saying there will be almost 300 cranes there at the peak. Merrick ManleyJason Irwin they said they have broke ground there all ready.
Merrick Manley commented on Jason's share
We got over 100 cranes on site now
Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals posted
If you’re looking for the second largest crane in the world lifting a double loop reactor, it’s your lucky day! Robert ShellebyThe company that's owns the crane is mammoet.
Cindy Bargerstock commented on Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals' post
Cindy Bargerstock commented on Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals' post, cropped
Pete Moore commented on a post
Saw this today on jobsite I delivered at.
Merrick Manley commented on a post
I had to throw are mammotte in that's on are site,, almost 700 ft tall.
Jim Unterberger posted nine photos with the comment: "Shell cracker plant Monaca PA. Most cranes I have ever seen for one project." Unfortunately, some are rather redundant.
Arthur Overdijk posted Robert PickelMonaca PaRobert PickelPTC 200 CC 6800 LR 11350 5- LR 1750s LR 1600 CC 2500 CC 2400 2- 2250 Maxers 7- 2250s 9 - 999s 4 - 14000s 4- 218s Shit ton of Pickers on siteCouple tower cranes also
Andy Guzman commented on a post
ECU 47
[Is ECU 47 a union shop?]
ALL posted but Facebook broke getting a link to the post
ALL Crane Rental of Pennsylvania, a member of the ALL Family of Companies has delivered close to 90% of the cranes being used in the construction of the 400-acre Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA. The project is of massive scale, with nearly 3,000 construction workers currently on the site and an additional 3,000 expected to join before the project is completed in 2020.
Offering its customers top talent and an unrivaled fleet of cranes for over a half century, the ALL Family is an experienced and proven partner for projects of every scale.
Matt Weyand posted, cropped
Not a Manitowoc, but its Big and Red and makes all the other Manitowoc’s on the job look tiny!!
[PTC 200 DS with 800' of boom with a 610' radius.] William Lowin When your AUX line has more parts than most main’s........ John Egnatz Just to be clear the PTC does not have a center pin, however it certainly has a center of rotation which is where the radius is still measured from. I worked with a Mammoet PTC crew outside of Chicago and was told that an engineer would be coming inside the ring to take a measurement from this point.
Jim Devine shared
Bill Longstreth postedtwo photos:
Welcome to "The Big Show"
Monaca PA... Shell cracker plant... $35.49 on the hip, $14 per diem within 60 miles, $74 per diem beyond 60 miles...
4 -10s straight time, Friday & Saturday 8s @ OT...
Over 140 cranes on the site & 800 Ironworkers...
This article has the timelines of the two big cranes wrong. The MSG 80 that lifted the quench tower came and went before the PTC 200 DS that is to do over 40 lifts came.
plasticsNews, Plastics News photo by Frank Esposito
Michael Marr, Shell Chemical business integration lead.
Most of the PE resin made at the site will be sold into the U.S. market. "Seventy percent of U.S. polyethylene converters are within 700 miles of the plant," Marr said. "That's a lot of places where we can sell into pipe and coatings and films and other products.
Many North American PE makers have opened major new facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast in the last several years in order to take advantage of low-priced shale feedstock. Shell officials have said that their project's location in Appalachia will give it advantages in shipping and delivery times over locations in Texas and Louisiana."
85 percent of U.S. natural gas production growth from 2008-18 took place in the Ohio Valley. The region "produces more natural gas than Texas with half of the land mass," business manager Nathan Lord said. The area "is based on top of feedstock and in the center of customers," he added, "and a large amount of the U.S. population is within a one-day drive."
Marr said that at one point the site was using 150 cranes. One is 690 feet tall, making it the second-tallest crane in the world.
Even as it completes work on a project that will increase the region's PE supply, Marr said Shell is aware of concerns over plastic pollution, particularly those involving single-use plastic products. The firm was a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, an industry group that's investing $1.5 billion to reduce plastic waste worldwide. Locally, Shell is working with Beaver County to enhance recycling programs in the region. "We know that plastic waste doesn't belong in oceans," Marr said. "More recycling is needed and we need to establish a more circular economy."
Some of the loads coming to this plant from the Gulf are so big that they use larger ocean-going barges. [CincinnatiEnquirer] Both photos I saw showed just one barge in the tow. Thus it will easily fit into the locks on the Ohio River. In fact, it can probably use the 600' auxiliary lock.
Is so much equipment being shipped from the Gulf because it is being imported or because the Gulf has the oil+gas infrastructure needed to build these huge components? At least some of it is because of imports:
Construction of the ethane cracker plant in Potter Township is ahead of schedule and within budget, the chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell said Tuesday.
Despite the chief executive’s optimistic statements, he echoed sentiments previously released by the company that the project could experience lengthy delays and added costs if President Donald Trump continues his trade policies, which have included tariffs and restrictions on imported steel.
To that end, the Wall Street Journal mentioned how steel headed for the Potter project was held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in June because of the steel quotes. The steel for the local plant was released only after Trump signed a proclamation ordering the shipment to be released.
Trump signed that proclamation after Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey sent a letter to the Department of Commerce alleging that hundreds of workers could be laid off from the Shell project if the president didn’t act immediately.
In the Wall Street Journal article, van Beurden said Trump’s ongoing trade policies won’t be “fatal” to the project, but they could “really disrupt the flow of construction and the continuity of employment” at the site.
Shell spokesman Joe Minnitte said Tuesday that between management, engineers and craft unions, approximately 3,000 people are currently on site in Potter. He added the company continues to “move forward progressing the project.”
“We continue the ramp up of workers each week toward reaching 6,000 workers in 2019,” he said.
[TimesOnline]
Eric Robinson posted six photos with the comment: "Shell Chemical Plant Beaver County PA, looked to be over 20 Manitowocs onsite."
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Dakata James commented on Eric's post Ben Stalvey Sad the big cranes are not no Manitowocs Dakota James Thats a pic off google images of it, i did not take this.
Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals posted You may have noticed a boat near one of our outfalls removing a white foam and keeping it from going beyond the proactively positioned containment barrier (boom). That’s our maritime spill operator that we deployed to assist in collecting and eliminating the substance. We are running tests to determine exactly what has caused the intermittent foaming at this location. We have notified the regulatory agencies as required. No injuries occurred as a result of the event and there are no reports of impact to wildlife. Shell’s primary focus is the safety and health of people, and the protection of the environment. We are committed to the safe and thorough investigation and response to this event. Paradoxical Purpose: I feel bad for Shell good luck figuring it out because most people can't be honest with themselves and take responsibility for their actions it will probably take some digging to find out who is pouring crap down the storm drain. It's probably start-up with their flushes or restoration blasting everything down during clean up. Soap, Glycol, ecetra doubt it is any oil product they know how to be careful with that. Just can't expect people to be more honest with others than they are with themselves less and less people in society left in the world brave enough.
Now that we are well into commissioning of the site, you may have seen an orange glow coming from an area of our site on occasion. That glow is caused by something we have been talking to the community about for a few years now; one of our safety and environmental controls, our flaring system. Now that we have introduced hydrocarbon onto the site and are in the process of starting up the plant, the flare system is utilized from time to time.
Flares are important environmental controls and safety devices, used in refineries and petrochemical processing plants like ours.
They are utilized as a safe way to burn hydrocarbon gases, as an alternative to releasing the gases directly into the atmosphere. This protects our community and employees from exposure to the flammable gases. Our flares are designed to achieve a minimum of 98% combustion efficiency and the combustion products are carbon dioxide and water vapor. We will continue you to update you on our activities on site as we safely head toward production.
Today, at approximately 12:08 p.m., a process compressor shut down resulting in flaring of hydrocarbon material in a controlled manner. The flaring lasted about 15 to 20 minutes, initially with smoke, as actions were taken to minimize and eliminate the smoke as soon as possible.
Operations are stable and we’re working to determine the cause of the interruption. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.
As we’ve shared, flares are important environmental controls and safety devices used in refineries and petrochemical processing plants like ours. They are utilized as a safe way to burn hydrocarbon gases, as an alternative to releasing the gases directly into the atmosphere.
Kurt Haverstock: For my part, I would appreciate more direct and transparent communication...or at least an explanation that didn't seem designed to minimize and normalize the impact of such events.
After continued assurances of industry-leading safety measures and responsible environmental stewardship, this plant that has been 'moving at the speed of safety' has treated Beaver area residents to the noxious odor of bleach accidentally mixed with sodium tolyltriazole, the unsettling sight of surfactant foaming at a plant outflow into the Ohio River, and most recently, the discharge of thick black smoke from an emergency flaring operation...smoke that continued through the full duration of the 20 minute event, not simply at the start of the burn as indicated. We are assured, however, that the burn was controlled.
We are told that this and previous events occurred as the result of equipment failures, and that the company apologizes for the inconvenience. An entire region is watching as this plant comes online and brand new equipment continues to fail. This is not a matter of 'inconvenience', but a matter of trust that is betrayed, little by little, with each 'inconvenient' discharge of chemicals into the air and water.
There are those who say that this is the cost of doing business, but this is not the way that we were assured business would be done. With that in mind, you'll have to pardon the continued skepticism of those of us who live in close proximity to the plant.
Katie Hummel: How about you post an actual picture of this light polluting, ozone polluting mess of a plant, and not some photoshopped lie??
Leslie Paulovich commented on Katie's comment, cropped
Leslie Paulovich commented on Katie's comment, cropped
Oct 20, 2022: Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals posted [Another "pardon our flares" post. The comments mention the light pollution as well as the flairs.]
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