An explosion hit the Abadan Refinery near the coast of the Arabian Gulf

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Iranian Fars News Agency reported that an explosion hit the Abadan Refinery, located near the coast of the Arabian Gulf. The news agency said that the explosion was due to a technical problem. Subsequent reports state the explosion was the result of a gas leak.

According to the Fars agency, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - who was visiting the refinery at the time - was not hurt. However, the explosion caused one death and left 22 wounded.

The refinery was completed in 1912 and was one of world's largest oil refineries when it was destroyed in 1980 by Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war.

The refinery had a capacity of 635.000 b/d in 1980 and formed a refinery complex with important petrochemical plants. Its capacity has been increased steadily since the war ended in 1988. Its capacity is now listed as 400.000 bbl/d crude oil.

MRC

(Dow) -- The Dow Chemical Company has successfully demonstrated the use of recycled plastic to generate energy. The successful pilot test measured how plastic that has been reused and recycled to the full extent possible can be used as fuel for an ultimate end-of-life option instead of going to a landfill for disposal.

The pilot test found that 96 percent of available energy was recovered after incinerating 578 pounds of used plastic in a kiln at one of Dow's waste treatment facilities. The energy recovered was equivalent to 11.1 million Btu's of natural gas and was used as fuel for Dow's incinerator during the test. The trial was completed in compliance with regulatory permits.

Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) scrap film generated in one of Dow's extrusion laboratories was used in the test. The film was the same type commonly used for packaging food and consumer products. The test took place at Dow's second-largest U.S. manufacturing location in Midland, Mich.

MRC

(JCN Network) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation will expand a PVC compound production facility in Thailand, responding to growing demand, mainly for automobiles. Mitsubishi Chemical supplies PVC compounds for automobile interior and exterior parts and for electric cable & wire to Thailand and neighboring countries, through its subsidiary, Sunprene (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Demand for automobiles in Thailand and neighboring countries has continued to increase in recent years, and is expected to increase further in the future. In response to this growing demand, Mitsubishi Chemical will expand the PVC compound production facility at the Amata Nakorn Plant of Sunprene (Thailand).

The performance polymers business, including PVC compounds, is positioned as a "growth business" in the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group medium-term management plan, APTSIS 15, and Mitsubishi Chemical will continue to promote global business expansion in this field.

MRC

(Food Production Daily) -- RPC Bramlage Food presented a new plastic pack at Interpack - manufactured with barrier multi-layer injection moulding and designed to rival glass and cans in the market for long shelf life products. The multilayer polypropylene (PP) pack is being marketed as a low cost alternative to glass for storing sensitive products like ready meals or pate.

RPC claims the new pack can extend the shelf life of a food product to between 12 and 24 months - depending on the food and the preservation technique used. Sterilisation, pasteurisation and heat sealing are all compatible with the new packaging.

The new technology is achieved by simultaneous injection of skin and core layers creating pack walls with an EVOH barrier layer surrounded by PP measuring 0.4mm in thickness.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Shell has restarted its 800 KTa ethylene cracker in Bukom Island, Singapore, over the weekend, as per Platts. The cracker has been shut for about two months following an outage. The unit was taken offline for a planned month long maintenance in February this year. Shortly after it restarted, it had to be shut on March 18 due to technical problems, prompting it to declare force majeure on some chemical supplies. It was not clear at what rate the plant was operating.
The cracker is designed to use a range of raw materials including naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and heavy liquid hydrocarbons such as hydrowax.

MRC