Phenolchemie's Alabama phenol-acetone plant ready for start-up

Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a business unit of Dallas-based Halliburton Co., and its joint venture partner PSI-Lurgi, a Memphis, Tenn.-based subsidiary of Germany's Lurgi Oel, Gas, Chemie GMBH, have completed mechanical work on a new phenol and acetone manufacturing facility in Theodore, Ala., outside Mobile. The $200 million project was undertaken by Phenolchemie Inc.

The plant will produce 400,000 tonnes/year of phenol and 250,000 tonnes/year of acetone. Mechanical completion was reached 2 weeks ahead of schedule and with a "superb safety record," says Dr. Peter Bickert, president of Phenolchemie.

KBR provided engineering, procurement, and construction services for the main plant and offsite facilities, including a mile-long railroad spur with a truck and rail loading facility; a cogeneration interconnecting pipe rack, which joins Alabama Power's steam generation facility; all building and infrastructure for the facility; and the main tank farm, located across the state highway from the plant.

Lurgi provided piping, process, mechanical, and instrumentation design for the main process units.