Korea SK Energy starts test runs at Ulsan experimental steam cracker

(Plastemart) -- South Korea's SK Energy has begun test runs on a steam cracker at its Ulsan complex that utilizes experimental technology, as per Platts. The cracker uses naphtha as the primary raw material, but is also able to use diesel or kerosene as secondary feedstocks.

Besides a wider choice in feedstocks, a special feature of the process is the high ratio of propylene yield compared with ethylene, about 1:1.

Mechanical completion of the cracker, which is able to produce 20,000 tpa each of ethylene and propylene, was completed in August and feedstock was first fed into the unit on October 25.

The cracker will be operational for a year before a decision is made on further investment on a commercial-scale plant using the same technology.

MRC

(Trinidad&Tobago's Newsday) -- Four containers, with $531,000 worth of PVC pipeline from WASA (Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago) were despatched to St Lucia, Public Utilities Minister Emmanuel George said yesterday as the Government continued its disaster aid drive in the wake of Hurricane Tomas.

⌠About 80-85 percent of the water systems in St Lucia were destroyed, George told reporters. He noted that infrastructure supporting the Sir John Compton Dam was badly damaged.

The minister said the shipments to St Lucia would not affect WASA's local operations in this country, where many are still to date without a 24/7 supply of water. WASA in a press release said the aid was ⌠drawn from WASA's existing stockpile with no impact on day-to-day operations.

MRC

(Thai-ASEAN News Network) -- A group of PVC producers in five Southeast Asian countries has teamed up to promote green initiatives and a sustainable approach to technological development, in hopes of preventing environmental conflicts.

Twelve polyvinyl chloride producers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand formed the ASEAN Vinyl Council, which aims to address environmental issues related to the industry, such as emission standards for chemical waste, to help minimize the impact on the environment and local communities.

AVC's general manager, Namsak Chunhajutha, said the council will provide support for businesses that wish to better connect with local communities and promote public understanding of investment projects.

Namsak revealed that the consumption of PVC raw materials among Southeast Asian nations currently stands at an average of 1.4 million tons a year, while the output is 2.1 million tons.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) has recently begun a scoping project with the aim of enabling retailers and brands to use recycled polypropylene plastic in food packaging.

Using recycled polypropylene instead of virgin plastics, for food packaging also presents significant environmental benefits which can be enjoyed by retailers, brands and consumers.

With developments in infrastructure, HDPE and PET bottles are now widely recycled back into new plastic bottles and in some cases, into food grade packaging too. As polypropylene makes up a significant proportion of plastic packaging in the household bin, developing a process to enable it to be recycled is an important next step towards sustainable packaging.

MRC

(Sibur) -- At the Tobolsk-Polymer Project site a distillation deethanizer column of length 61 metres, diameter 6.26 metres and weight of around 800 tonnes was delivered and set up on its foundation.

After erection, the column was centered, aligned and fixed on its foundation with anchor bolts.

A depropanizer column was the first to be installed in early October.

The production capacity of the Tobolsk-Polymer project is 500 thousand tonnes of polypropylene per annum. The total cost of the project is about 60 billion rubles.

The completion of construction works is expected for the third quarter of 2012.

MRC