Plant Relocation, Dismantlement and Removal Articles

A Common Plant Liquidation Scenario Your company has made the tough decision to close a plant. This plant was running for years, and the company paid a lot to have it built, paid everyone’s salaries, and maintained or even modernized all of the production assets over the plant’s life but the plant needs to be sold off for one reason or another. Your company has called upon you to recover as much dollar as you can to help keep the organization alive, and better yet, healthy, in what is a constant battle in the marketplace. You’ve either: Have spent months, maybe even years trying to find a buyer that would operate the plant in place, without any success, while the plant’s assets lose value every passing day. Or, you can’t sell it to another company, as you are one of the few suppliers of the product the plant makes, and you don’t want to create a competitor, or improve a competitor’s position. Or, the plant is on leased property that is costing the organization a lot of money without getting any of it back from produce from the plant, like being a lessee of a field where all the fruit trees are dead. You are in a situation where you can’t sell the plant for operation in place to another company, so you have to find another way to recover as much money as you can. Conventional wisdom says to just have the plant demolished, and hope the scrap value of the assets cover the work, and if you’re lucky, put some cash in the organization’s pocket. It doesn’t feel good, but what else can you do? Welcome Phoenix Equipment: Your Plant Dismantlement & Relocation Services Partner Phoenix Equipment’s plant dismantlement and plant relocation services give you the options you need. You are not fenced in to a one-size fits solution. We start with a transparent discussion, outlining our services, and then letting you decide if our services are the right fit for you. From the very first conversation onward, Phoenix works with you as a partner, and gives you a hand up on maximizing value recovery. Phoenix Equipment is in the unique position of buying and selling entire chemical plants for relocation, while also having a strong position in selling chemical process equipment a la carte. This gives you access to a worldwide marketplace of chemical plant and equipment buyers, and Phoenix either sells the assets on an agreed upon commission, giving you access to Phoenix’s powerful marketing abilities and superior exposure due to our high ranking capabilities on Google and other major search engines. Phoenix also does direct active marketing campaigns, and has an extensive book of business; instantly giving you access to thousands of buyers. If you have a tight timeframe for recovery, Phoenix can prepare a proposal to either: Buy the plant outright. Or, liquidate the plant, and give you a turnkey package where Phoenix dismantles the site and gives you cash in great excess over the scrap value. Learn more about the number of plant selling options Phoenix offers to see which solution is the best for your business. The Plant Dismantling and Relocation Team that Will Earn You Top Dollar Phoenix has 30+ full-time employees dedicated to plant demolition and plant dismantlement, and a full-time sales and marketing team. Phoenix’s management and project managers all have more than 10 years of experience with the company, and in most cases over 20 years of industry experience. Phoenix has performed turn-key asset recoveries for over 100 companies, with a EMR rating of under one (-1) for over fifteen years. A Trusted Partner for Over 40 Years Limit the time and resources you spend decommissioning the plant and trying to recover value, Phoenix’s safe and proven approach to plant dismantling, relocation, and asset recovery requires minimal involvement from you after we have agreed on an approach. You are freed up to focus on your other business objectives, while Phoenix turns your old plant into working capital. Phoenix can safely dismantle the plant and get you maximum value for the assets (process technology, process plant, process equipment and scrap materials), and can provide you a no obligation evaluation that will include proposed scope of work and deal terms. Contact Phoenix today to stay above the curve in both cash recovered and project deadlines.

Older chemical processing plants often have a lot more to give. They may be decommissioned for a variety of reasons, and relocating the equipment to overcome those circumstances could prove economical for companies looking to save money. Moving chemical and processing plants across regions, or even oceans can provide several major benefits including: Proximity to greater demand Access to cheaper workforces or raw materials Expanded operations Escape from stringent industrial regulations Money savings compared to purchasing new equipment Time savings on engineering, specifications, production design, and documentation While the cost of purchasing an existing plant, dismantling and refurbishing the equipment, shipping it to a new location, and reassembling can seem like an impossible task, in many cases it can be significantly lower than purchasing new components and building a brand new plant. Once the decision to relocate has been made, extensive, detailed planning and an agreement with experienced professionals can make even the most complicated manufacturing facility move manageable and efficient.   Properly Document the Decommissioning and Disasssembly Properly deactivating the process equipment at its existing location will ensure efficient set up at the other end. Start by documenting the location, orientation, configuration and relationship between the components in site. Photographs, diagrams, match-marking, and color-coded tags can be useful when the processing plant is reassembled in its new location. More than simply a map for the reassembly team to follow, these schematics and visual representations should also note the placement of vertical features – overhead conveyors, maintenance corridors, pits, trenches, etc. Do not rely on old documents. Where layout drawings exist, check their accuracy by conducting walking equipment inspections. Where they do not exist, take special care to create them. If the plant is operational prior to relocation, benchmark, and calibrate machine performance before shutting it down.   Process Equipment Review Equipment walk-through inspections also will allow experts to assess the quality and condition of each component. It is probable that not all machinery will be in optimal working order. Some may have to be repaired, overhauled or refurbished, while other parts can require replacement. A partner experienced in buying and selling chemical plants and equipment can appraise each machine and offer guidance on whether specific processing equipment is worth salvaging. While relocating a production plant can help save money on equipment, not all components will be worth reusing. When repairs, freight charges, storage costs, lost scrap value, etc. are considered, sourcing replacement equipment near the new plant location may be more economical than relocating some pieces. Make this determination early in the process. This not only saves time and freight costs, it also allows companies to locate and purchase replacement equipment so it is on hand when it comes time to reassemble the line in the new location.   Shipping The actual relocation of a production plant involves much more that crating equipment and putting it on a ship or rail car. A comprehensive plan will ensure the receiving location is prepared in time for the donor plant’s arrival. A plant relocation expert will schedule the timing of each component’s arrival so the team on the receiving end can have the necessary platforms, bases, utility connections, and other structures in place. The relocation partner should offer custom rigging and packaging that provides the greatest damage protection for condensers, vessels, compressors, converters, and other valuable equipment. They should organize ground shipments on high-capacity trailers and flatbed railcars that eliminate cargo shifts and cushion the ride. For overseas transport, you should expect your partner to coordinate with shipping firms and handle logistical challenges, documentation, export paperwork, and scheduling to deliver your plant components swiftly and undamaged.   Reassembly and Commissioning Your relocation contractor should use match marking, equipment tags, and the schematic and photographs created before the plant was dismantled to bring the “new” plant online safely and efficiently. A comprehensive reassembly program begins even before the plant equipment arrives from its original location. The plant engineer and/or relocation vendor should fully prepare the new site, installing anchors, skids, platforms, and other equipment bases. Then, using the match-marks and photographic documentation created before dismantling, the team can reassemble production lines, storage tanks, subassemblies, etc., including electrical connections and mechanical applications. When the plant equipment is connected to electricity, gas, water, and other utilities, the contractor and plant engineer then can conduct tests to ensure all connections are complete and functional.   Trust Phoenix for Plant Relocation As mentioned earlier, there are many reasons to consider relocating your process facility, whether it be nitrogen fertilizer plants (ammonia, urea, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate), methanol and syngas plants or any other type of plant. Whatever your reasons, Phoenix Equipment will help you succeed. Put our industry expertise and comprehensive services to work, guiding your company through the entire process. Contact Phoenix today to learn more about our plant relocation services.