07/11/2011

Chemtech completes its largest project to date

“Everything at the Refinery is huge”. Consultant Armando Neto's remark after his visit to the Abreu & Lima Refinery construction site reflects what each of the 600 chemtecheans working on the project have felt at seeing their work come to life. Three years after being awarded the contract, in 2008, the detail engineering of the refinery has come to an end.

The project scope included the atmospheric distillation, delayed coking, hydrogen generation and diesel and naphtha hydrotreating units, which are now taking shape in Ipojuca (PE) thanks to the dedication of professionals in various fields of engineering. The number of documents delivered, a measure of project progress, reached 36 thousand. "In addition, we worked on two projects for the SNOX, Cafor and power generation and distribution units, and kept a team on site providing technical assistance," says Cintia Rodrigues, the project manager since March this year. "This is more than ample proof that Petrobras sees Chemtech as the company most capable for this project," says the general manager.

Multiple disciplines, one team

With about 80% of the refinery awarded to Chemtech, the company hired more than 400 professionals from across the country. This hiring boom doubled Chemtech's headcount to 800. The Abreu & Lima Refinery project was a growth milestone both for Chemtech, which now employs 1200 people, and for hundreds of Chemtecheans and more than 10 thousand Brazilians.

As well as a turning point in Brazil's engineering history, the Northeast Refinery was also Chemtech's largest project since inception. The culturally diverse, multidiscipline project team was key to its success. Civil, mechanical, electrical, process, safety, HVAC and telecom disciplines worked together with quality, planning, procurement, management, PDMS, project automation and coordination teams using an innovative approach to the development and management of large engineering projects.

Milestone after milestone, the Northeast Refinery project was developed to completion, a success case that will add to both Chemtech's own project portfolio and to the resumes of each team member. "Completing this project was certainly a major milestone in Brazil's engineering history and in Chemtech's own history. This is the first large refinery designed almost entirely using local engineering capabilities, and that is something we are certainly proud of," says head of engineering Marco Tulio Rodriguez.