KPIC shuts naphtha cracker due to unplanned flaring

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea’s Korea Petroleum Industries Co (KPIC) on Tuesday shut down its naphtha cracker due to an unplanned flaring incident, reported Reuters with reference to an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The flaring occurred around midday due to a technical glitch. The cause remains under investigation, the source said, adding that KPIC plans to resume operations as soon as possible.

KPIC runs an 800,000 tpy naphtha cracker in Onsan, southeast of Seoul.

As MRC informed before, in the end of H1 2017, KPIC expanded its ethylene production capacity. KPIC’s ethylene capacity expansion for its Ulsan-based Naphtha Cracking Center (NCC) started commercial operation from Jun 23, 2017. Earlier, KPIC produced about 470,000 mt/year of ethylene from its Ulsan-based NCC. With the launch of the expanded capacities, the company added 330,000 mt/year of ethylene, and its combined ethylene capacity reached 800,000 mt/year.

KPIC is one of the key producers of ethylene in South Korea. Before the expansion, the company’s ethylene capacity accounted for about 6% of total ethylene production in South Korea. Now, the company’s market share will be increased to nearly 10%.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – Following the approval of local government authorities, BASF has completed the acquisition of GRUPO THERMOTEK, a leading waterproofing systems supplier based in Monterrey, Mexico, said the company on its website.

The companies had announced the transaction on April 24, 2017. Through this acquisition, BASF’s Construction Chemicals division strengthens its channels to market and builds on its portfolio of brands for construction professionals.

THERMOTEK, founded as a privately held company in 1992, is well- positioned in the waterproofing systems market in Mexico. Its products are designed to offer maximum quality on virtually every type of substrate and include resinous and dispersion-based materials as well as modified asphalt sheet membranes. The company has more than 200 distributors in the region and employs approximately 500 people.

The transaction includes the well-known THERMOTEK and CHOVATEK brands, and others, which will continue to be sold through retail channels, material houses and local hardware stores.

"The acquisition of THERMOTEK enables us to continue on our growth path by bringing a robust portfolio of construction solutions to a broader customer base," said Michael Stumpp, Managing Director BASF Mexicana S.A. de C.V. and Central America. “This is an exciting time for our business and we welcome the THERMOTEK employees to the BASF family."

As MRC informed earlier, in August 2017, BASF and Engineering signed an exclusive joint development agreement for BASF to provide custom made catalysts for a new chemical energy storage process.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of more than EUR70 billion in 2015.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), and its joint venture partners Sanyo Chemical and Toyota Tsusho, have awarded a construction contract to SK E&C for a new polyols facility in Thailand, as per Apic-online.

The 130,000-t/y polyols plant, which will be located in Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate, is planned to cost USD210-million. Construction is expected to last 35 months.

SK E&C will be responsible for the engineering, pro-curement, construction and trial operation of the new polyols facility.

The project also includes a 20,000-t/y polyurethane system at the same site. Both units are scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2020.

Separately, Sumitomo Chemical said it has reached an agreement with PTTGC to license its proprietary propylene oxide (PO) technology to PTTGC for a new 200,000-t/y PO facility planned to be built at the site. Completion is expected in the second quarter of 2020.

The PO production technology is based on a PO-only process in which, with cumene recycling, PO alone is manufactured without accompanying by-products, Sumi-tomo noted.

Combined with Sumitomo's high-performance epoxidation catalyst, the PO technology offers the distinct advantages of a high PO yield and superior stability in plant operation, it added.

As MRC reported before, PTT is on track to start commercial operations at its new 400,000 mt/year metallocene C6 linear low density polyethylene (MLLDPE) plant at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, in the first quarter of 2018. PTT will start up the plant by the end of this year.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iraq's oil exports slipped to 3.216 MMbpd in August from 3.230 MMbpd in July as no shipments were made from the northern Kirkuk field, the oil ministry said on Saturday, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

All the volumes shipped in August came from the southern fields, it said in a statement. Kirkuk is the only field supervised by the government in the north.

The volume announced by the ministry accounts for shipments from the fields supervised by the central government in Baghdad, and does not include those from the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

The average sale price in August was USD46.22/bbl, generating USD4.6 B in revenue, the statement said.

The bulk of Iraq’s oil is exported via the southern terminals. Smaller amounts are shipped from northern Iraq via Ceyhan in Turkey.

As MRC informed before, in August 2017, OPEC member Iraq formed a JV with a shipping company owned by Arab states to transfer, store and trade crude and oil products, according to official documents and industry sources. Middle East oil producers are venturing into buying and selling oil to boost their incomes as a sharp drop in crude prices since mid-2014 has forced the industry to become more efficient and commercially focused. The venture, Al-Iraqia Shipping Services and Oil Trading (AISSOT), will handle a "plethora of activities ranging from trading of petroleum products, ship chartering, oil terminals, various marine services, and bunkering".
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials, has introduced a material solution for high-pressure composite tanks for hydrogen storage in its continuing mission to help reduce CO2 emissions, according to the company's press release.

Hydrogen tanks are the next step in fuel storage, as such storage is a key enabling technology for advancing hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in applications that include stationary power, portable power and transportation.

Hydrogen has the highest energy per mass of any fuel. One kg of hydrogen is equivalent to 33.3 kWh, which means it delivers three times more energy than conventional fuel. But hydrogen’s low ambient temperature density results in a low energy per unit volume. This requires the development of advanced storage methods that have the potential for higher energy density.

DSM is working to apply its materials expertise to make safe, effective and very lightweight hydrogen tanks.

"We had already developed this technology for compressed natural gas (CNG) tanks, and now we are testing the same material and design principles for hydrogen tanks to meet the needs of the automotive industry," said Bert Keestra, Application Development Engineer at DSM.

The two-part tank design features a proven, blow molded liner made of Akulon Fuel Lock, a polyamide 6-based engineering plastic with a very high barrier to hydrocarbons. The tank can then potentially be further reinforced by wrapping it in unidirectional (UD) continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes made of EcoPaXX polyamide 410. This combination of commercially available materials has already proven to be very effective in CNG tanks, and DSM is now actively testing the concept in hydrogen tanks.

The result would be the lightest-weight plastic tank available for hydrogen storage applications. Reducing weight is key, since every 10 kg removed from a vehicle roughly translates into a reduction in CO2 emissions from the vehicle on the road of one gram per km.

For the liner, Akulon Fuel Lock greatly reduces weight compared to metal. It also offers improved permeation versus polyolefin liners, meaning that the gas stays in the tank. The liner material, which is 100% recyclable, is safe with no debuckling.

Furthermore, the material is optimized to remain ductile and tough, even at extremely low temperatures (-40 C). This was important for CNG, but is even more vital for hydrogen storage, as the working pressures are much higher.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2016, Royal DSM announced that it once again extended its range of ForTii high performance polyphthalamides based on polyamide 4T.

Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials.
MRC