The complex depends on it
A cracker supplies a whole series of downstream units. Its shutdown has to be coordinated with their operating modes and inventories – otherwise the complex is down for longer than the cracker.
Industries · Process industry
Petrochemicals & Crackers
We manage cracker turnarounds from the cracking furnaces to the cold section – as well as the tie-ins and revamps across the complex.
- Interval
- several years of operation between two shutdowns
- Lead time
- 12–36 months' lead time for a major turnaround
- Integrated site
- one shutdown affects every downstream unit
- 11 clients
- from this industry on our reference list
Market
Under cost pressure – and in the middle of transformation
Steam crackers are under pressure on two fronts. Energy and feedstock costs weigh on European sites compared with regions with cheaper gas, and margins have been under pressure for years. At the same time, the transformation is under way: first volumes of circular feedstocks such as pyrolysis oil from chemical recycling are already going into existing crackers, first projects are electrifying the energy-intensive cracking furnaces, and CO₂ costs are making efficiency a hard economic factor.
For operators, this means: the existing plant has to keep running with high availability – and, in the same window, be upgraded for a changed feedstock and energy profile. The scope of a turnaround grows as a result; the time available does not. Hardly any cracker shutdown today comes without a conversion component.
A cracker turnaround forgives no gap in the plan – every delay immediately affects the whole complex.
Challenges
What is different here
Long intervals, high stakes
Crackers run for several years at a stretch. The shutdown in which furnace overhaul, repairs and inspections coincide is correspondingly rare, large and economically critical.
Major-hazard operation
Permitting and safety requirements are particularly strict here. They are not an add-on at the edge of the schedule – they help set its pace.
Turnaround meets project
Tie-ins for circular feedstocks, electrification and efficiency measures bring project logic into the same window – with their own engineering and their own delivery dates.
Scarce specialist trades
Only a few firms in Europe can do furnace construction, retubing and cold-section work. This capacity has to be secured early, or the market sets the date.
Typical tasks
Your task – and what we offer for it
On the left: what operators in this industry come to us with. On the right: the service that covers it.
The cracker shutdown is coming up
Leadership from the definition phase to closeout and lessons learned – as the operator’s extended arm.
The scope keeps growing
Challenge workshops and a scope freeze that holds – so that the conversion component does not overstretch the shutdown.
The schedule has to work for the whole integrated site
Logic-linked, dynamic detailed schedules, critical path and progress measurement every shift – for the downstream units too.
In execution, everything runs in parallel
Coordination of trades in the plant: measure, assess, take corrective action – anew every shift.
A conversion project in the integrated site is coming up
Schedule, cost and documents for the conversion projects – at the right scale, including across several projects.
We want to know where our TAR organisation stands
Objective assessment of the turnaround organisation – 16 analysis elements, with benchmark.
We are short of people for the peak
Schedulers, supervisors, site managers and QA/QC staff – vetted and for exactly the months you need them.
Clients
Clients from this industry
- BASF
- Borealis
- Borouge International
- Dow
- ExxonMobil
- INEOS
- LyondellBasell
- OMV
- SABIC
- Sasol
- TotalEnergies
A selection of our clients in this industry. View all clients
Related services
Shutdown or project?
In this industry we support you in both worlds. From here you can go on to the services that belong to it.
Turnarounds
From the TAR-Check through scope and scheduling to leading the entire shutdown.
Go to servicesCapital projects
From feasibility through estimating and project controls to site management and overall responsibility.
Go to servicesFrequently asked questions
Questions answered
How early should a cracker turnaround be planned?
Reliable milestone planning typically starts 12 to 36 months before the shutdown. In petrochemicals, there is the added factor that specialist trades for furnace overhaul and retubing are scarce across Europe – if you freeze the scope late, you will no longer find the capacity available.
Do you take the downstream plants in the integrated site into account?
Yes. A cracker's schedule does not stop at the plant boundary: the operating mode, inventory management and restart of the downstream plants belong in the same plan. We coordinate the windows with the affected units and keep the integrated site visible in the progress report.
What is technically special about cracker shutdowns?
The pace is set by the cracking furnaces with decoking and retubing, and by the work on the cold section – heat exchangers and cold box. These packages are usually on the critical path and determine the duration. On top of that come the strict requirements of a major-hazard plant, which also shape the sequence.
Do you also support modification and transformation projects?
Yes. We manage tie-ins for circular feedstocks, the electrification of cracking furnaces and efficiency measures with our own methods – whether in the shutdown window or during ongoing operation.
Do you work on the operator's side and independently?
Yes. We report to the operator, not to an executing trade – ep-cm is owner-managed and does not belong to any group with executing companies. In petrochemicals, this means above all: decoking, retubing and the cold-section work are sequenced according to what the complex can tolerate. We represent this sequence to all trades.
Terms such as steam cracker are explained in our glossary – along with 58 more terms from the turnaround and project business.
Let’s talk about
your plant.
Get in touch – we will respond within one working day, with people who know this industry. The initial call is free of charge.
Book an initial callPrefer to talk directly? +49 (0)211 5667 7754