PETER OLADIPUPO

Imagine being a car manufacturer tasked with building a single car. You start by sourcing every piece of equipment and raw material needed, fabricating the parts, piecing them together, and then assemble the entire vehicle. Once completed, you begin the same laborious process all over again for the next car – an inefficient, painstaking cycle, with each car essentially being treated as a bespoke project. The mass assembly model introduced by Henry Ford in the early 1900s changed this approach. By standardizing parts and streamlining their assembly on an efficient production line, Ford transformed car manufacturing. Suddenly, multiple cars could be produced in less time and at a fraction of the cost, ushering in a new era of industrial efficiency for the automotive industry.

Somehow, this kind of innovation has largely bypassed the chemical industry. Since its inception, much of the design and construction of chemical plants have remained unchanged. The same principles and methods that Rockefeller used to build the first refineries in the 19th century are still in use today, such that building a petroleum refinery in the 21st century can still take a decade to complete. Even in highly developed countries, constructing large-scale chemical plants remains a time-consuming and capital-intensive process.

Clearly, the chemical industry is long overdue for a transformation akin to the assembly line. A standardized modular plant system could be the breakthrough the sector desperately needs. Modular chemical plants, designed and prefabricated in standardized sections, can be assembled on-site in a fraction of the time it takes to construct traditional facilities. Demonstrations of this approach have already shown promising results, with one exemplary BASF modular plant being successfully installed within days of prefabrication. Pilot modular plants have achieved capital cost savings of over 40%, reduced project timelines from years to as little as ten months, and lowered environmental footprints by 50%.

Scaling up this innovation for widespread adoption is critical. While developed countries may be slow to embrace such a transformative shift due to entrenched practices and existing infrastructure, the opportunity for modular chemical plants in developing countries is immense, offering a practical, cost-effective, and scalable pathway to accelerate industrial development.