Minimizing risks and saving costs

The sheer scale of the state-of-the-art facility taking shape on a vast site in the port of Antwerp is breathtaking. As an intricate tangle of pipelines and tanks, the plant centers around an ethane tank exceeding 100 meters in height. Europe’s largest and most sustainable ethane cracker is expected to be operational at this location by 2026.

The final outcome – the detailed inspection test plan – was the result of close collaboration between the Munich team and many international TÜV SÜD colleagues.

The state-of-the-art plant will produce ethylene, one of the world’s most widely used base chemicals and an essential building block for a wide range of plastic products. The sustainability of the cracker is based not only on cutting-edge technology and optimal energy efficiency but also on a unique inspection concept: RBI.

What sets “Project One” apart is that its risk-based approach to inspection planning – in which all individual components are classified by risk – is being developed in parallel with the construction of the plant. The idea is to have a transparent and continuous inspection plan in place for the years to come by the time the facility is commissioned, not just when the first inspection begins. Classifying components as critical or non-critical with different inspection cycles improves both the availability and the sustainability of the plant. At the same time, the cracker’s operation can be extended beyond its originally planned lifetime – a prime example of forward thinking. Florian Dinauer and Fabian Ringelmann explain how this works in the video.

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