Graycor completed construction of this world-scale manufacturing plant to produce soybean-based polyols for Minneapolis-based Cargill, a food and agriculture products company. The new $22-million BiOH™ brand polyols manufacturing plant in Chicago is the first world-scale biobased polyols plant.

Graycor self-performed a majority of the work critical to the project, including heavy process piping and mechanical, while managing multiple trades simultaneously. The new manufacturing plant in Chicago made available a much larger supply of BiOH™ polyols as a viable raw material option for Cargill’s growing customer base in North America and Europe. International contractor Graycor met an early construction milestone that enabled Cargill to produce test batches while construction continues. Graycor’s teams worked closely together to successfully coordinate a variety of trades work on a tight schedule in a small area with virtually no lay-down space, which was no small feat considering the equipment and materials arrived almost daily from around the world. Construction of the 10-month-long project included a tank farm, as well as a process building housing all equipment utilized in the process.