Mammoet Marches Major Vessels to be Set at Sasol

Installation of the tallest and the heaviest vessels for Sasol’s Ethane Cracker and Derivatives project in Louisiana, USA. Mammoet recently completed the transport and lift of two key vessels at Sasol’s Ethane Cracker and Derivatives project. The Ethylene Oxide Ethylene Glycol (EOEG) Reactor is the heaviest vessel on the project, weighing 1,523 tons (3.046 million pounds).

It was transported at night on triple wide, 25 axle-lines of Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) in just 2 hours. After arrival at the staging area, the vessel was lifted and set using Mammoet’s MSG-80 ring crane and a CC-12600 crawler crane with an 820-ton tailing load to maneuver the reactor into the upright position.

The wash tower, the project’s tallest vessel reaching 98 meters (320 feet), was also transported and lifted into place. The component was moved at night on double wide, 16 axle-lines of SPMT with 783 ton turntables, in an operation that took 4 hours. The wash tower lift was executed with the MSG-80 and 2,205-ton double beam tail frame on triple wide, 16 axle-lines of SPMTs.

In an earlier phase in the project, Mammoet had coordinated the arrival of these vessels by barge.

These vital components are part of the new ethane cracker plant, under construction in Southwest Louisiana.

When completed, the project will provide an impressive annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons of ethylene, feeding six chemical manufacturing plants. The facility is expected to begin commissioning in 2018.