How INEOS Improves Fluid System Reliability with Swagelok
At INEOS's manufacturing facility in La Porte, Texas, maintaining product quality requires analytical instrumentation systems that deliver accurate, reliable, and consistent performance. In this customer success story, learn how INEOS partners with Swagelok Southeast Texas to improve fluid system reliability, analyzer system performance, and operational efficiency. Through a combination of technical expertise, engineering services, customized solutions, and comprehensive training, Swagelok helps INEOS optimize critical fluid systems and reduce installation-related issues. Discover how collaborative problem-solving, engineered seal panel solutions, and best-practice tubing installation techniques help INEOS achieve high standards for safety, reliability, and product quality while allowing plant personnel to focus on daily operations and long-term manufacturing goals.
Video Transcript
Basically, as an analyzer specialist, I have four cornerstones that I depend on: the procedures, the standards, the manpower, and the hardware. Swagelok is at the very heart of the hardware.
They are absolutely critical in each and every instrument we have. They trust us. They trust us to come on site and say, “We need a little help. Can you come put your eyes on this? Can we get your insight? Can we partner on this?”
Our team here has put together a complete package—not only components, but services, training, and everything on our side—and then having all the different groups from INEOS participate, it is like two great teams just coming together and executing. It is a winning team.
Over the years, Buster and I have developed such a trust with each other that he understands what I need as I need it. Once we have a meeting and get that idea across of what I am looking for, I can go ahead and cut him loose, and I am back to my regular job. They take care of that part of the process for me so that we can go on, take care of the plant’s daily needs, and still get projects done. We start with a long-standing history of trust, and then we build on it transaction by transaction, interaction by interaction. Over time, we end up in a situation like we have here today at INEOS, where they are really trusting us with their complete fluid system solutions. The reliability of Swagelok allows us to trust the process that is flowing through these tubes. We have chemicals that, obviously, we do not want escaping into the atmosphere. We had a lot of large valves and actuated valves, anywhere from quarter-inch, eighth-inch, even all the way up to two-and-a-half-inch ball valves, and Swagelok was able to fit those needs across the gamut.
The way that we work with INEOS, with our technical expertise, is really doing a deep dive into what kinds of parts are going to work best, not just selecting a replacement for what is there. We walk the system all the way from the tap to the analyzer, and we can see what parts of the system are actually causing issues or need to be adjusted so they can make changes to the overall purpose of the system.
We work with Swagelok to implement a training program for our contractors and maintenance team to ensure that we have high-quality workmanship when we do installations in our tubing. We do it right the first time. Our personnel are actually aware of how to install the tubing, whether that is operations, maintenance, or any contractors, and that resulted in less frequent failures.
We worked with Swagelok’s engineering services to fabricate our seal panels that we use for our tandem seal setups for our hydrocarbon pumps. We were able to provide CAD drawings, fabrication, and quality controls and checks, and we were able to sign off and make sure that it met our customized needs. Since then, we have had no issues with our panels. They have been clear and easy to read, and operators can understand how to operate them. Working with Swagelok’s engineering services allows us to focus on other things, provide a turnkey package, and have peace of mind.
What I enjoy most about the relationship is the collaborative environment that is created and the free flow of information that allows us to not just look at the challenges the same way, but really figure out the best solution. No matter if it is something that we have not done before, can we implement something in a better way? The solution might look different than what it did before.
