100%
Problem eradication and stable reactor operation restored
Advanced Problem Solving Uncovers Root Cause in Chemical Plant
A global chemical producer faced repeated production breakdowns in its core Urea reactor, causing severe output losses and over €10 million in financial impact. Despite extensive internal investigations, the root cause remained unidentified. EFESO assembled a cross-disciplinary team of engineers and problem-solving experts who applied a rigorous Physical Mechanism analysis to identify the true source of failure — a minor process modification made two years earlier. The issue was eradicated, restoring reactor stability, performance, and long-term reliability.
Industry: Chemicals
Service: Manufacturing
Service: Operational Excellence
Service: Operations Strategy and Transformation
Our Client
The client produces Urea in a large-scale Urea reactor, and it is the core ingredient to downstream chemical plants on the same site.
“In my 36-year career this is the most frustrating problem I have ever had to deal with. I would never have guessed that that was the root-cause
“
The Challenge
The client’s main Urea reactor experienced multiple catastrophic shutdowns over a two-year period, leading to major production and financial losses. Despite repeated analysis, the root causes remained undetected, and the plant continued to suffer from instability and underperformance.
- Recurring production failures: Reactor came to a standstill four times due to the same process failure.
- Severe output losses: Production dropped to less than 50%, generating more than €10M in total losses.
- Unresolved root cause: Internal troubleshooting and analyses failed to identify the source of the issue.
- Critical operational dependency: The reactor’s output was essential to downstream plants on the same site.
Real Results Achieved Together
EFESO’s structured Advanced Problem Solving approach eliminated the recurring issue, stabilized reactor performance, and strengthened internal capability to prevent similar failures.
The problem was fully eradicated and the reactor is operating at a stable, high performance. The root cause was proven using causal effects, with supporting theoretical explanations.
+€10M
Total loss exposure prevented through issue resolution
>50%
Production output recovery to high-performance levels
Transformation Impact
- Reactor performance stabilized and maintained at high efficiency.
- Root cause conclusively identified and reversed.
- Early detection indicators embedded in process monitoring.
- Internal processes reinforced to prevent reoccurrence.
Our Approach
EFESO assembled a dedicated task force combining expertise in Chemical Technology, Applied Physics, and Advanced Problem Solving. Using the Physical Mechanism (PM) methodology, the team thoroughly examined the physical phenomena behind the recurring failures to identify the true root cause.
- Cross-functional Expert Team
• Brought together chemical engineers, physicists, and problem-solving specialists.
• Coordinated closely with client operations and technical teams. - Physical Mechanism Root-Cause Analysis
• Systematically analyzed all potential causes and eliminated non-contributors.
• Identified the issue as a side effect of a chemical introduced two years earlier for pump lubrication and sealing upstream of the reactor. - Corrective and Preventive Measures
• Reversed the root cause, restoring full reactor performance.
• Defined early warning indicators for process monitoring.
• Strengthened internal change management and review procedures.
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Facing Similar Production Reliability Challenges?
- Uncover hidden root causes that traditional methods miss
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