Ticona ceases selling Duracon and Duranex

(Plasticsengineering) -- Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, today announced it will discontinue the sale of the DURACON POM and DURANEX PBT brands from Polyplastics Co. Ltd. on September 1, 2012, in the Americas and November 15, 2012, in Europe.

Customers that intend to use DURACON POM and DURANEX PBT after these dates are advised to contact Polyplastics.

There is no change in the availability and service level for Ticona branded thermoplastics. These high performance engineering thermoplastics are produced in the United States, Germany and China, and available to Ticona customers throughout the world for use in existing and new applications.

DURACON and DURANEX registered trademarks are owned by Polyplastics.

Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, produces and markets a broad range of high performance products, and posted net sales of USD1,298 million in fiscal 2011.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of specialty materials and chemical products which are used in most major industries and consumer applications. The company is a leading producer of acetyl products, which are intermediate chemicals for nearly all major industries, and is the world's largest producer of vinyl acetate monomer.
MRC

IVL starts operations at new Nigeria plant

(ivl) -- Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), the world’s leading vertically integrated Polyester Value Chain producer, has commenced operation of its new 75,000 tonne per annum PET Solid State Polymerization (SSP) facility in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

The facility produces bottle grade PET chips through Solid State Polymerization, the second stage of the PET production process after the initial chips formed by a polycondensation process, which can be sourced from the company’s facilities in Asia or Europe and shipped to Nigeria for final processing.

Nigeria has an estimated demand of approximately 53,000 tonnes of PET in a country of approximately 120 million people and is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Port Harcourt is a port town in Southern Nigeria that is the center of the country’s large oil and petrochemicals industry.

The plant, which utilizes state-of-the-art Buhler SSP technology from Germany, is the first PET plant in West Africa and provides IVL with the ability to serve its major customers with global service on four continents.

MRC

Technip awarded contract for a substantial elastomer project in Saudi Arabia

(technip) -- Technip was awarded by the petrochemical company Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company (KEMYA)(1) - a joint venture between Sabic and Exxon Chemical Arabia, an affiliate of ExxonMobil Chemical Company - a contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of an Halobutyl(2) facility, located in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

This project is part of the Saudi Elastomers Program undertaken by KEMYA to set up a world-scale specialty elastomers facility to serve local markets, the Middle East and Asia.

This new facility will produce 110,000 tons per year of rubber using ExxonMobil licensed technology.

Technip's operating center in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, will execute the contract.

Arturo Grimaldi, Senior Vice President of Technip Middle East Region stated: ''We are glad to work on the implementation of this world-class facility, based on a state-of-art technology, in line with Saudi Arabia's strategic objectives. This contract reinforces Technip's leading position in the petrochemical business and in Saudi Arabia, where we have been present for more than 30 years.''

Technip is a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry.
From the deepest Subsea oil & gas developments to the largest and most complex Offshore and Onshore infrastructures, our 30,000 people are constantly offering the best solutions and most innovative technologies to meet the world's energy challenges.

Present in 48 countries, Technip has state-of-the-art industrial assets on all continents and operates a fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction.
MRC

LyondellBasell reports flaring at Valero Refinery

(m.caller) -- Officials with Valero Energy Corp. and LyondellBasell cited maintenance as the reasons for separate flaring events at their respective Coastal Bend facilities on Thursday.

Planned work on the light end unit at Valero’s West Plant sparked flaring, spokeswoman Lillian Riojas said.

The light end unit is the part of the refining process where propane and butane are distilled from crude oil. The work was expected to end Thursday evening, as was the flaring.

The Corpus Christi-Nueces County Local Emergency Planning Committee issued a statement about 1:15 p.m. Thursday stating the public did not need to take protective action.

In a separate incident, the committee issued a similar notice about LyondellBasell about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Routine maintenance caused the company’s facility to flare ethylene and propylene, two chemicals used in making plastics, LyondellBasell spokesman Scott Buchman said.

Off-site monitoring showed no dangerous substances in the air, and the work and flaring was expected to be done Thursday, Buchman said.

MRC

Clariant launches biofuel cellulose ethanol plant

(clariant) -- Clariant, the Swiss specialty chemicals company, today inaugurated Germany’s biggest pilot plant for the production of climate-friendly cellulose ethanol from agricultural waste.

Located in Straubing, Bavaria and supported by the Bavarian government and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, the futuristic project will produce up to 1,000 tonnes of cellulose ethanol from around 4,500 tonnes of wheat straw based on the sunliquid technology developed by Clariant.

It represents an investment of around 28 million euros. Studies show that Germany potentially has around 22 million tonnes of straw that could be used for energy production without compromising essential soil regeneration. This would be sufficient to cover around 25% of Germany’s current gasoline requirements.

The plant at the Bavarian BioCampus in Straubing is logistically well-located right next to the Donau harbour, and will procure its raw materials largely from the Straubing region. The Mayor of Straubing, Markus Pannermayr, welcomed Clariant’s involvement in the area, describing it as the "most innovative major ‘green chemistry’ company at the Bavarian BioCampus."

The sunliquid process is an innovative biotechnological method that turns plant waste products such as grain straw and corn straw into second-generation cellulose ethanol.
MRC