MRO Chemical Cleaning for an Ethylene Production Unit

An Unplanned Outage With No Time to Waste

A large integrated petrochemicals facility in the Mid-Atlantic region experienced a significant equipment failure in its ethylene production unit. The failure triggered an unplanned outage, creating the need for new critical piping and equipment in the cracking furnace section before production could resume.

In an operating facility of this scale, an unplanned outage isn’t simply a maintenance event. Every day offline carries a direct production cost.

The Project’s Challenges

• No pre-engineered cleaning program existed, and B&W had to rapidly develop protocols against an active production clock
• The replacement of critical piping and equipment introduced new material into an existing process system—both new and existing components required cleaning to restore the unit to spec
• Cracking furnace exchangers operate under extreme conditions, and any contamination left behind after repair work carries a direct risk to equipment integrity at restart
• The window to mobilize, engineer, execute, validate and turn over was tight from day one

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B&W’s Response: Rapid Mobilization & Disciplined Execution

Following the replacement of the critical piping and equipment, B&W mobilized to the facility and performed chemical cleaning on the cracking furnace exchangers and associated piping. The scope covered both the newly installed components and existing system elements affected by the failure and repair. This combined cleaning challenge required a coordinated approach across materials of different ages, histories and contamination profiles.

Despite the compressed schedule and the complexity of working within an operating facility during an active recovery, B&W developed and executed a cleaning program under unplanned outage conditions without the benefit of pre-engineering lead time.