Accident at Cologne site brought No.4 cracker off stream for three weeks

(chemmonitor) -- The Luasanne-headquartered (Switzerland) company INEOS announced about the accident at No.4 cracker at Cologne site (Germany).

The cracker was shut last week on the back of a leakage on the superheater. The unpredicted shutdown is expected to last three weeks.

The company operates two crackers at Cologne site. The overall nameplate output reaches 655,000 tonnes per year. One of the crackers produce 450,000 tonnes per annum, the other one's annual nameplate capacity is assessed at 660,000 tonnes.
MRC

Linpac Packaging introduced two PP packaging films

(britishplastics) -- In line with its new Fresh Thinking' innovation strategy, Linpac Packaging, has launched two new PP films for fresh meat, poultry and fish.

Both films - LINtop PP HB Lock Seal and LINtop PP HB Peelable - are said to guarantee to meet shelf-life targets in the PP market, helping manufacturers, retailers and consumers to reduce food waste - critical in today's cost-conscious, recessionary marketplace.

Manufactured at the company's Pontivy flexible films factory in France, both products are formulated to seal on a variety of PP trays, said to run smoothly in machines and to seal through contamination to ensure a safe and secure pack.

The lock-seal film option is available in two gauges - 35? and 42? - with the 35? being one of the lowest gauges on the market, which, according to Linpak, results in cost-savings and a low carbon footprint in line with retailers' sustainability strategies.

MRC

Iran builds butene unit at Jam petrochemical complex

(chemicals-technology) -- An USD 85m butene production unit is ready for production operations at Jam petrochemical complex in Assaluyeh, Iran.

The complex is an onshore installation of the South Pars gas field, which is located in the Persian Gulf and shared between Iran and Qatar.
Jam petrochemical complex managing director Mostafa Mortazavi told Shana that the butene production facility constructed at Assaluyeh is one of the largest and most sophisticated units in the world.
Mortazavi said the unit's production capacity stands at 115,000tpa when adding the production of petrochemical complexes at Bandar Imam, Arak and Tabriz, but its annual output is no more than 30,000tpa.


"By building the unit at Jam petrochemical complex the country's need for the product, as a main feedstock for light poly ethylene units will be met fully," Mortazavi added.
He said in addition to meeting domestic needs, part of the product would be exported to other countries which will turn Iran into one of the exporters of the product.
Jam petrochemical complex, which is the biggest olefin unit in the world, has a capacity of 1.32 million tons of ethylene.

The complex also comprises a polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit, both with a production capacity of 300,000t, while the ethylene glycol unit and linear high density polyethylene (LHDPE) have production capacities of 443,000t and 300,000t respectively.

MRC

Chevron defers expansion of natural gas processing plant in Nigeria

(plastemart) -- Chevron Corp has pushed back the expansion of a natural gas processing plant in Nigeria, originally slated for this year, by another three years, according to its annual report, which also revealed it was exploring for shale gas in China.

Nigeria's Escravos Gas Plant Phase 3B, which is designed to gather 120 million cubic feet of natural gas/day from 8 offshore fields and then compress and transport it to onshore facilities, has already been delayed by a year. Phase 3A will feed a USD8.4 bln gas-to-liquids plant nearby when that starts up next year, having itself been delayed for three years and seen its estimated cost more than double.

Construction continues on Phase 3B last year, and project is now expected to be completed in 2016. The Chuandongbei natural gas project in China will now start up in 2013 instead of this year, but Chevron also said it signed a joint study agreement to explore for shale gas in the Qiannan Basin last April, and started seismic operations to evaluate it in July. Chevron is already exploring shale resources in Argentina, where it expects to drill two exploratory wells this year in the Vaca Muerta formation, as well as in Poland and Romania.

MRC

BP Chemicals to build acetic acid and BDO complex

(chemicals-technology) -- BP Chemicals Investment (BPCIL) has signed a memorandum of understanding to construct an integrated acetic acid and 1,4 butanediol (BDO) complex at Chongqing, China.
BPCIL, a wholly owned subdisiary of BP, signed the MoU with SK Global Chemical, South Korea and Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works (SVW).

The CNY7bn (USD1.1bn) integrated complex is expected to consist of a 200,000mt/year BDO unit, a 600,000mt/year acetic acid plant and other related facilities.
The complex, which will be located in the Chongqing Changshou Economic and Technological Development Zone, northeast of Chongqing city by the Yangtze River, is likely to use 440 million m?/year of natural gas as feedstock.
The project is expected to be equipped with SVW's natural gas partial oxidation technology which converts natural gas to acetylene.


The acetic acid plant, which will use BP's Cativa technology, will be a joint venture (JV) in which BPCIL holds 51%, SVW 44% and Chongqing Energy Investment Group (CEIG) 5%, while the BDO JV will be equally owned between SVW and SK, according to the Chemical Week.
The acetic acid plant will supply hydrogen to the BDO facility, which will in turn provide acetylene off-gas to the acetic acid plant.

The project, which is awaiting the government approval, is likely to be completed in phases in 2015. BP and Sinopec currently operate an acetic acid JV, which has a combined capacity of 850,000 mt/year, while the wholly owned subsidiary of SK Innovation, SK Global Chemical, runs a 40,000mt/year BDO facility in South Korea.


MRC