Emersons latest control system transforms projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -– Emerson is expanding its Plantweb digital ecosystem with today’s launch of DeltaV version 14, a cybersecurity-certified control system designed to deliver new value in capital projects and make plant operations more connected and productive, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The latest release provides significant innovations to the entire DeltaV architecture and was built with customers’ digital transformation initiatives in mind.

This major update to the DeltaV automation system includes several meaningful enhancements to eliminate costs and reduce complexity in capital projects, plus improve productivity during operations through enhanced access to production and equipment data, improved usability and greater security.

“More than ever, an integrated plant data environment is essential to achieve digital transformation. With DeltaV, we’re reducing the engineering effort required to securely connect plant, operational and information systems,” said Jamie Froedge, president of Process Systems and Solutions, Emerson Automation Solutions. “Our customers will have more capabilities in their distributed control and safety systems to help them successfully execute capital projects and optimize operations."

Continuing to advance the impact of DeltaV Electronic Marshalling with CHARMs on capital project engineering, CHARM I/O Block takes CHARMs—which achieved more than one million deployments at more than 1100 sites in only five years—closer to the field. Small enclosures with up to 12 CHARMs can now be installed closer to field devices, significantly reducing wiring and overall installation costs by as much as 60 percent and providing more engineering flexibility.

Smart Commissioning, launched in 2016, took one of most engineering intensive operations off a project’s critical path. Traditionally, commissioning has been a manual task that requires more than two hours per device for thousands of devices. Smart Commissioning reduced commissioning time to 25 minutes. Emerson is now expanding these capabilities and reducing device commissioning time to as little as 10 minutes, a nearly 93 percent reduction in costly commissioning time that could save several hundred-thousand dollars in engineering costs.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis, a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins and base chemicals, announces a net profit of EUR 247 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to EUR 239 million in the same quarter of 2016, as per the company's press-release.

For the full year 2017 the company recorded a net profit of EUR 1,095 million, compared to EUR 1,107 million in 2016. The 2017 result was driven by healthy European integrated polyolefin margins and an improved profit contribution from Borouge.

The contribution from Base Chemicals was lower compared to 2016 as a result of a continued weak fertilizer business environment. In the fourth quarter, net debt reduced by EUR 335 million. Over the full year 2017, net debt increased by EUR 140 million largely driven by the high investment level related to growth projects and turnarounds as well as the payment of a EUR 750 million dividend to Borealis' shareholders mostly offset by the strong cash inflow from the solid business result. Consequently, Borealis’ financial position remains strong, with a gearing of 12% at year-end 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) --- Belgium’s Solvay has completed the sale of its Charleston plant and associated phosphorus business in the US to German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess for an undisclosed fee, as per Solvay's press release.

Lanxess and Solvay agreed on the transaction in mid-November 2017.

The deal includes the Charleston site in South Carolina which houses six production units for phosphorus chloride and its derivatives.

The products at the Charleston site are used primarily as intermediates in plastic additives, flame retardants and agricultural applications.

According to Lanxess, the business in Charleston represents annual sales of roughly EUR65m.

As MRC wrote before, in early July 2016, Solvay completed the divestment of its shareholding in Inovyn (London), bringing to an end Solvay's chlorvinyls joint venture with Ineos. Solvay received exit cash proceeds amounting to EUR335 million (USD370.7 million). The dissolution of the jv follows regulatory clearances from the relevant authorities.

Inovyn was formed on 1 July 2015 as a jv between Ineos and SolVin, a subsidiary of Solvay. Solvay and Ineos signaled their decision to end their chlorvinyls jv in March this year.

Solvay, with a market share 27%, is the second largest PVC manufacturer in Europe, after Kerling with 29% of the market. Solvay is headquartered in Brussels with about 30,900 employees spread across 53 countries. It generated pro forma net sales of EUR12.4 bn in 2015, with 90% made from activities where it ranks among the world’s top 3 players.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The production of Neolyse Ibbenburen GmbH, a joint venture of AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals and Evonik Industries AG at the AkzoNobel site in Ibbenburen (Germany), is off to a successful start, as per Evonik's press release.

The plant with its state-of-the-art membrane technology has an annual capacity of 120,000 metric tons of potassium hydroxide solution and 75,000 metric tons of chlorine and hydrogen.

Operated by AkzoNobel, the facility strengthens the respective leading positions of both companies.
AkzoNobel commercializes chlorine and hydrogen, while Evonik distributes the locally produced potassium hydroxide solution and processes parts of it into other products such as potassium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate and potassium formate at its Lulsdorf site.

"The Ibbenburen facility sets a completely new standard for the chlor-alkali industry," said Werner Fuhrmann, Chairman of the AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals Executive Board, during the official opening ceremony of the new facility. "It enables us to secure the supply of our customers in the long term while further improving our company’s sustainability profile and operational efficiency."

The new production process at the site improves the ecological footprint of every metric ton of chlorine produced in Ibbenburen by 25 to 30 percent, resulting in lower energy consumption and fewer CO2 emissions. "We demonstrated throughout the course of the project that two experienced partners can contribute their diverse experience to intelligently shape their business environment. We complement each other very well and look forward to continuing our collaboration, which benefits our customers and therefore ultimately also the market for potassium hydroxide," noted Dr. Harald Schwager, Deputy Chairman of the Evonik Executive Board, on the occasion of opening the plant.

As MRC informed previously, in January 15, 2016, Evonik and AkzoNobel broke ground to officially start the construction of the new membrane electrolysis plant in Ibbenburen. Initially, the new facility was due to come on stream by the fourth quarter of 2017. The two chemical companies established a production joint venture in June 2015 for the manufacture of chlorine and potassium hydroxide solution at the AkzoNobel site in Ibbenburen.

AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals is the market leader for industrial salt, chlorine and chloromethanes in Europe.

Evonik is the European market leader for potassium hydroxide solution and potassium derivatives as well as a leading global provider of alcoholates with a production site in Lulsdorf (Germany).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Last month's imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased by 16% year on year, totalling 5,700 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's SPVC imports to the Ukrainian market remained quite substantial and were 5,700 tonnes, despite "low season" and long New Year holidays, whereas imports were 6,700 and 3,600 tonnes in January and December 2017, respectively. Some locacompanieses were actively building up additional inventories of material on the back of low export prices in the USA and Europe. Overall imports of suspension totalled 98,500 tonnes last year.

The structure of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports to Ukraine by countries looked the following way.

Last month's imports of US PVC were 2,700 tonnes versus 1,300 tonnes and 1,900 tonnes in January and December 2017, respectively. Overall imports of US resin totalled 49,800 tonnes in 2017.

January imports of European PVC to the Ukrainian market were 2,600 tonnes, compared to 4,000 tonnes in January 2017 and 1,200 tonnes in December 2017. Overall imports of European PVC to Ukraine totalled 32,500 tonnes in 2017. Purchasingng of resin in Russia has decreased significantly in the recent months due to the more complicated logistics. Last month's imports of Russian PVC were 383 tonnes versus 1,500 tonnes and 373 tonnes in January and December 2017, respectively. Overall imports of Russian resin totalled 13,800 tonnes last year.

MRC