Modularity refers to manufacturing components in modules
of generally smaller or manageable size for large construction projects to be
assembled on-site. It has many advantages and some disadvantages as well. One disadvantage
in rare cases might be overall project cost, compared to larger projects. I am
thinking nuclear reactors in this example, where a larger reactor may be more
cost-effective than banking many smaller reactors. However, other advantages of
modularity may even costs out over time. In fact, modular construction is most often
cheaper. Time itself is another advantage of modularity. Smaller modular projects
are much more likely to be built on time and in line with cost projections. Modularity
can be useful for a wide variety of construction projects.
Modularity in
construction is also referred to as prefabrication. One clear advantage is affordability.
Another is efficiency. One clear efficiency advantage is that factory work and
site work can take place simultaneously and without each getting in the way of
the other. The result is faster construction time. Another advantage is better
access to skilled labor. There may also be better access to raw materials and
logistics, including rail cars. Modular construction can drastically reduce
on-site waste which can also increase site safety and security. Modular
construction can reduce construction delays due to weather. Workers can be more
productive, comfortable, and safe in the controlled conditions of a factory
than on a construction site. Building offsite is better when an existing operating
site is being added onto so that disruptions to ongoing operations at the site
are minimized. Modules are installed rather than built on-site with added transport
of people and tools to the site. One disadvantage of modular construction is
transportation of the modular components to the site. They may be large and dangerous
to move. Planning and logistics are very important in this regard. Installation
may involve cranes and detailed maneuvers. Even so, those installations happen much
faster.
The efficiency
advantages of modularity are highest where components in high demand are able
to be mass produced and where installations have become routine. Early phases
of new technologies will be less efficient as learning curves are climbed.
A disadvantage
of modularity is that it does not allow for much customization so that design
changes during construction cannot be accommodated. Of course, these are issues
to be worked out in planning and logistics are less likely to cause problems when
construction of the type becomes routine.
The biggest
modular industry by far is modular home construction which is well developed
and provides quality housing at decent prices for single family homes. The use
of digital technologies, lightweight materials, and improved manufacturing
processes are making modular construction better, cheaper, and more
sustainable. In the energy industries new modular construction is being
considered for many types of power plants and energy processing plants. A 2019
McKinsey and Company report suggests that the U.S. and European modular
construction industry could scale to $100 billion and offer $20 billion in
savings over traditional construction. The report is focused on the modular
housing and building industry. They note that successes in this industry have
been occurring in Japan and Scandinavia. In the U.S. modular housing has had a
bad reputation for many years but with better technologies, materials,
manufacturing, and building standards the industry might be due for a big
upgrade.
In the nuclear
industry there are ongoing pilot demonstration projects and proposed and permitted
commercial projects for small modular reactors (SMRs) and nuclear power ships. SMRs
can be built by those who build oil refineries and petrochemical plants since
many of the same processes are required: steel construction, metals fabrication,
tanks that can withstand pressure, welding, etc. Power ships can be built at
shipyards by shipbuilders who also do many similar processes and of course, the
ship part. These projects are new, slow to build, and it will take some time
before the advantages of modularity are realized.
New buildouts
of hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration projects will also likely
benefit from modularity as time goes on. However, like advanced nuclear, these
are also new industries in pre-scale up phase so the advantages of modularity
will take time to be realized.
Modularity can
be better able to take advantage of location. An example is the newly planned
modular oil refineries in the Permian Basin region of West Texas, that have
just received permits to build. These refineries will process the light sweet
West Texas crude oil produced from the shales.
Building small and very close to where the oil is
produced will yield cost advantages and emissions reduction advantages. These
will reduce the amount of oil that needs to be exported to overseas refineries
that have more refinery capacity for this type of crude oil. Most of the large
U.S. oil refineries were retooled at significant cost to process heavy sour
crude during the oil crises of the 1980’s. they make hydrogen and
transportation fuels like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. After shale
discoveries of light sweet crude, it became advantageous to export that crude. Currently
we export about 3 million barrels a day of light sweet crude and import 7-8
million barrels a day of heavy sour crude. Gerry Obluda, owner at Polaris EPC
Inc. and co-owner Jerry Nodier, will build the West Texas refineries this year
using its own technology called UltraFuels. Obluda notes that it is very inefficient
to have to export what you produce rather than refine it here at home. Obluda worked
with former president and manager Michael F. Milam at Calumet Specialty
Products Partners refinery in San Antonio, Texas. They began brainstorming. To
quote from the AAPG Explorer article referenced below:
“As Obluda and Milam brainstormed, they knew that
light, sweet crude has an ideal boiling-point range to make transportation
fuels and that it requires less energy to refine. They also knew that building
refineries tailored for light crude outfitted with new equipment that complies
with current emissions standards would only add to their efficiency.”
“A smaller refinery that processes 10,000 to 20,000
barrels a day would require only state permitting, allowing them to be built in
a quicker timeframe. And, a smaller volume of oil would not overwhelm the
surrounding markets on either the crude supply or finished product sides.”
They plan to add carbon capture from furnace stacks and
amine absorption for the CO2 byproduct. They also plan to reduce criteria pollutants
such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide.
Refining represents about 13% of U.S. industrial emissions and process
emissions (from refining crude for transportation fuels) responsible for nearly
a third of that 13%. The owners think that the refineries’ strategic advantages
will help offset the costs of the carbon management system.
They note that a 10,000 barrel per day
refinery can be about 75% modular so that pumps and piping can be built in a
factory that allows for higher quality control and faster construction times.
Heaters and towers must be built on-site. A refinery that processes more oil than
that will have to sacrifice some modularity. Like some of the modular nuclear
projects they are using existing technologies but just putting them together a little
differently. They expect construction to take about 20 months and the refinery
is small enough that it could be disassembled, packed up, moved, and reassembled
after the oilfield becomes depleted. The oil is expected to be used for diesel
that fuels Permian Basin operations which currently get theirs from Gulf Coast
refineries. The Co2 can be used for local enhanced oil recovery, Currently, that
CO2 is shipped from New Mexico and Colorado. There are existing local markets
for gasoline and jet fuel as well. Larger refineries in the U.S. are very old,
too outdated to be reconfigured for light sweet crude. The different components
in those old refineries are too far apart do effective carbon capture and
within each unit they are too close together to fit in effective carbon capture
systems. These new types of small modular refineries can become a model for
other countries and areas as well. Smaller companies can build and operate them
where new oil fields are being developed. If successful and that seems likely,
this could become a trend in modularity.
In many cases
modularity is ‘stackable’ in that many modules can be banked or stacked together
to increase size. This is true with battery banks and can be true with power plant
components, modular nuclear reactors and in other modular construction. Some advantages
to that include maintenance where one module can be serviced at a time so that maintenance
does not require a whole plant to go down. Another advantage might be in decommissioning,
which can happen one module at a time. One small modular nuclear developer plans
to simply add a new modular reactor after the lifespan of the previous one is
finished, also allowing a certain amount of time for it to continue cooling
before removing it.
Power plants,
oil field operations, or microgrids may utilize truck mounted gas reciprocating
engines, or “gen sets” for power. These are often factory-built modules delivered
to site ready to go. GE has a modular factory-assembled quick construction,
quick start turbomachinery solution for gas peaker applications, oilfield
operations, or other grid stability or power needs. Their LM2500XPRESS is a
modularized plug-n-play design that is 95% factory assembled and can be
installed for grid applications in 13 days by 20 people. These aeroderivative
gas turbines can be banked as a series of ten 34MW modular units in a simple cycle
or integrated into a combined cycle to deliver 47MW each with up to 54.4%
efficiency. These can be installed in months rather than years to help with emergency
grid needs. This efficiency is not quite as high as the new state-of-the-art H-class
turbines that can reach up to 65% efficiency in combined cycle, but for
something so easily deployable is quite an accomplishment. These turbine sets
are used by Evolution Well Service and offer the highest efficiency for E-fracs
in the oil and gas industry.
References:
Modular
Construction: Pros and Cons. Let’s Build. March 10, 2022. Modular
Construction: Pros and Cons - LetsBuild
Modular
construction: From projects to products. Nick Bertram, Steffen Fuchs, Jan
Mischke, Robert Palter, Gernot Strube, and Jonathan Woetzel. McKinsey &
Company. June 2019. Modular
construction: From projects to products (mckinsey.com)
10
benefits of modular construction. Vertis. 10
benefits of modular construction | Vertis Buildings
Modular
Oil Refineries Solve Efficiency, Environmental Problems. Heather Saucier. AAPG
Explorer. February 2023. Modular
Oil Refineries Solve Efficiency, Environmental Problems (aapg.org)
Natural
Gas and Decarbonization: Key Component and Enabler of the Lower Carbon, Reasonable
Cost Energy Systems of the Future: Strategies for the 2020’s and Beyond. Kent
C. Stewart. March 2022. Amazon Publishing.
Advanced
Nuclear: An Overview. Kent C. Stewart. Blue Dragon Energy Blog 2.0. February 7,
2023. Blue
Dragon Energy Blog 2.0: Advanced Nuclear: An Overview (bdeb2.blogspot.com)
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