Engineering, Procurement And Construction Research Articles

Design and construction of the Ningbo underground LPG storage project in China

NCC International, Sweden and Chiyoda, Japan were awarded the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contract to design and construct the LPG gas storage project of Ningbo, China. Chiyoda was responsible for the process and pipe-work and NCC the civil construction. The basic design of the civil works was provided at the bidding stage by Geostock of France. The client was BP Amoco with 93% and Ningbo Huadong LPG Company Limited of China with the remaining 7%. The well known and proven design concept is to trap the gas in unlined caverns where the structural rock is fully saturated. That means that all joints and pores of the rock are filled with water under a pressure that exceeds the pressure of the stored gas. To ensure a safe and steady ground water table of the required height, infiltration of fresh ground water is a must as there is a continuous flow of water into the caverns. This recharging of ground water is provided by a number of mainly horizontal infiltration holes that are being drilled from purpose constructed infiltration galleries. In all there are five storage rooms giving a total storage volume of 0.5 million m3. The largest caverns are 20 m wide, 22 m high and 290 m long and hold 125.000 m3. For construction purposes the original design of the storage rooms were altered in order to favor a fast and economic excavation of them. It was judged that the quality of the rock was good enough to go for a larger a more square shaped cross-section which certainly favored a fast excavation. It is obvious that the as built one from production point of view has great advantages. The caverns were excavated in three and four steps by starting with an 8 m high top heading which was split in two equal halves. One of the halves was advancing a few rounds ahead of the other mainly to allow for a faster excavation as this concept offers another face to work at. Beside that the face is so wide that it cannot be covered by one set up of a drill rig. The three Atlas Copco drill rigs Boomer 353 E were provided by NCC and utilized by subcontractor, The Sixth Engineering Bureau of Hydropower & Water Conservancy was employed for the drilling and blast operations. The drilled length of the rounds were generally 4.5 m. The benching that was made in two steps each 7 m high. Thanks to the new design the benching could be performed with vertical drilling which here has meant savings on both time and cost. For the drilling drill rigs AC ROC 542 were provided by NCC and used by subcontractor. The explosive for both the top heading and the benches was cartridged emulsion provided by a local manufacturer. This project had a slow start with re-bidding and alteration of scoop of work. The client having very limited experience from these kind storage facilities had an opened mind and took the advantage of the knowledge provided by both the designer Geostock and the contracting JV of Chiyoda and NCC. The contract form EPC (Engineering Procurement & Construction) gave an easy access to the skill of the parties involved. There was a good understanding and acceptance of alterations in the design and construction process. A strong ambition to fulfill the time schedule at the requested quality standard together with no major geological deviations from the geological settings brought this construction project to completion two months ahead of schedule. (A) Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. For the covering abstract see ITRD E124500.

Time-to-market vs. time-to-delivery: Managing speed in Engineering, Procurement and Construction projects

The time-to-market in NPD projects is a key factor in the competition between innovative firms. Research on concurrent engineering has shown that time can be managed as well as a delay and as a speed. Our concern in this paper is to study the time factor in the case of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects, where a customer initially contracts for a project from a contractor on the basis of specifications, budget and delay. Is time-to-delivery a key factor? Does its reduction represent a competitive advantage for the client and/or for the contractor in EPC projects? Is project speed a key variable to be managed, or does it result from other project parameters? We first define an analytical model to characterize a speed profile in EPC projects. We implement this model for six major construction projects developed by a large, international firm. A variety of speed profiles result. We conclude by showing the relevance of NPD project speed management in EPC projects.

FLUOR SECURES MIDDLE EAST EPC CONTRACT

Fluor Corp has been awarded a US$22 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by gas processing giant Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd (GASCO). This is a short news story only. Visit www.worldpumps.com for the latest pump industry news.

Shaw wins EPC work for clean fuels project

The Shaw Group Inc is to supply engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the first phase of a Clean Fuels project being undertaken at Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC’s (MAP) refinery in Garyville, Louisiana, USA. Visit www.filtsep.com for the latest filtration industry news

SHAW WINS EPC WORK FOR CLEAN FUELS PROJECT

The Shaw Group Inc is to supply engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the first phase of a Clean Fuels project being undertaken at Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC’s (MAP) refinery in Garyville, Louisiana, USA. This is a short news story only. Visit www.worldpumps.com for the latest pump industry news.

Fluor secures Middle East EPC contract

Fluor Corp has been awarded a US$22 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by gas processing giant Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd (GASCO). Visit www.filtsep.com for the latest filtration industry news

Willbros unit secures EPC contract

The Oman Construction Co, a Willbros Group operating unit, has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for multiple pipelines in the Lekhwair field area from the company’s long-standing client Petroleum Development Oman. Visit www.filtsep.com for the latest filtration industry news

Willbros unit secures EPC contract

The Oman Construction Co, a Willbros Group operating unit, has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for multiple pipelines in the Lekhwair field area from the company’s long-standing client Petroleum Development Oman. This is a short news story only. Visit www.worldpumps.com for the latest pump industry news.

Chiyoda/TEC consortium wins Russian EPC contract

Sakhalin Energy Investment Co Ltd has awarded Japan’s Chiyoda Corp and Toyo Engineering Corp and their Russian partners an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the grass-roots Sakhalin Liquefied Natural Gas plant in the Russian Federation. This is a short news story only. Visit www.filtsep.com for the latest filtration industry news.

Chiyoda/TEC consortium wins Russian EPC contract

Sakhalin Energy Investment Co Ltd has awarded Japan’s Chiyoda Corp and Toyo Engineering Corp and their Russian partners an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the grass-roots Sakhalin Liquefied Natural Gas plant in the Russian Federation. This is a short news story only. Visit www.worldpumps.com for the latest pump industry news.

Value Analysis: Capturing Total Cost of Ownership reduction opportunities in E&P projects

AbstractValue Analysis is a powerful tool to increase the value of a capital investment project and to capture cost saving opportunities. It is a method conceived during WorldWar II and frequently used on infrastructure projects, especially in the USA.The Value Analysis process typically consists of a well prepared 3 to 5 day workshop with focus on generating ideas to improve the current engineering concept. Emphasis is on screening all proposals in order to identify the most promising ideas. The workshop results in a number of proposals to modify the existing engineering concept.Stork Engineers & Contractors have used the Value Analysis method on several projects as well as in proposals for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects in the Exploration and Production (EP) industry.Typical results of Value Analysis led to a decrease of Total Cost of Ownership by some 10 to 30%. A well facilitated Value Analysis workshop also leads to mutual trust and understanding between the parties involved.A key element in a Value Analysis is (re)definition of the proposed functionality of a project. This is done through challenging the existing technical concept by increasing this functionality or by meeting this functionality at a lower cost.