Siluria Technologies and Saudi Aramco Technologies join forces to maximize chemicals production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco Technologies Company, a subsidiary of the world’s largest oil company, and Siluria Technologies, a leader in disruptive process technologies for the petrochemical and energy industries have executed a multi-plant technology license for the integration of Siluria’s proprietary technology (natural gas to olefins) with Saudi Aramco’s high-olefins cracking process technology, as per GlobeNewsWire.

Siluria’s natural gas-to-olefins technology, based on oxidative coupling of methane chemistry, is available for license in stand-alone configurations, as well as integration within a wide range of existing process plants; including steam crackers, propane dehydrogenation units, oil refineries, and methanol plants. By integrating Siluria’s technology with existing facilities, operators can upgrade their methane-containing by-product streams from fuel to chemical value, improving carbon efficiency and production rates.

Robert Trout, Siluria’s President and CEO said, "Converting methane containing off-gases to higher value chemicals adds meaningful economic value, while plant integration can deliver excellent capital efficiencies. We are thrilled to be working with a company like Aramco towards some of the largest and most technologically advanced petrochemical facilities the industry has ever seen."

"As we engage more customers around the world, our clients are helping to discover new and exciting ways in which our technologies can be used to improve the economics, operability, and environmental footprint of their existing process plants," added Trout.

Ahmad Al Khowaiter, Chief Technology Officer of Saudi Aramco commented, "Maximizing the output of high-value chemicals products from our future crude oil processing projects is one of the key objectives in our downstream technology strategy."

He continued, "We see a strong fit with Siluria’s "gas to olefins" technology in certain plant configurations, and look forward to collaborating further with Siluria to realize the value of these processes."

As MRC wrote before, Saudi Aramco and France's Total are considering building a mixed-feed cracker and derivatives in Jubail, near their joint refining complex. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of 1.5 MMtpy.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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SP Chemicals eyes turnaround at VCM plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SP Chemicals is likely to shut its No.1 vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant for maintenance, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has planned to take its the plant off-stream in early-August, 2018. The plant is slated to remian under maintenance for around one month.

Located at Taixing in Jiangsu province of China, the No. 1 plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, SP Chemicals undertook a planned shutdown at its styrene monomer (SM) plant at Jiangsu on November 6, 2017. The plant remained under maintenance for about 4 weeks. Located at Taixing in Jiangsu province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.

SP Chemicals, a Singapore-based company is one of the largest ion-membrane chlor-alkali producer and aniline producer in the PRC. SP Chemicals engages in the manufacture and sale of the chemical industry's basic building blocks - caustic soda, chlorine, hydrogen and its related downstream products. The company's products include: aniline, caustic soda, chlorine, chlorobenzene, nitrochlorobenzene, nitrobenzene, vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). To further drive its growth, SP Chemicals plans to invest approximately RMB1.1 billion in facilities for the production of styrene monomer, an intermediate raw chemical used in making polystyrene plastics, protective coatings, polyesters and resins.
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Preliminary agenda announced for IRPC Americas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Join Industry keynote Dr. Kevin Swift, Chief Economist at the American Chemistry Council and Technical Keynote Speaker Doug May, President, Olefins, Aromatics and Alternatives from the Dow Chemical Company as they begin Day One sessions with key topics highlighting technology innovations and regional market insights with leaders in the hydrocarbon processing industry, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

IRPC Americas attendees can listen to presentations on:

Process Optimization: Focus your APC effort to maximize profitability (Total Petrochemicals and Refining)

Reliability: Aqueous chemistry principles applied to refinery processes (Phillips 66)

Upgrading: Innovative solutions for resid upgrading and improved refinery margins (KBR)

Process Optimization: Use advanced predictive analytics to predict distillation column flooding (Valero)

Digital Operations: The spectrum of digital transformation (AVEVA)

Emerging Technologies: Achieving ULS gasoline while retaining octane (Sinopec)

As MRC informed earlier, in February 2017, Integrated Refinery and Petrochemical Complex (IRPC), a PTT Plc subsidiary, took its cracker off-stream for a maintenance turnaround. Located at Map Ta Phut in Thailand, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 360,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 312,000 mt/year.
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Siemens and Bentley are driving digital enterprise forward with the Process Industries Academy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Siemens Divisions Process Industries and Drives (PD) and Digital Factory (DF) together with Bentley Systems and the Bentley Institute are driving digital enterprise forward over the entire life cycle by founding a Process Industries Academy, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Academy's aim is to share best practice for plant engineering and operations. Academies are situated in the strategic locations of Karlsruhe, Germany (Siemens Process Automation World), Houston, Texas/USA (Bentley's Digital Advancement Academy) and Shanghai, China (Siemens Process Industry Centre for Excellence) to support the global process industry. The first event will be held in the second half of 2018 at the Siemens Process Automation World in Karlsruhe.

In light of recent developments in process industries, for example, in the oil, gas and global energy markets and the subsequent effects on plant production, established working methods are under constant review across the whole plant life cycle. Less investment in green field projects and an increased focus on optimizing productivity, performance and utilization of existing plants are causing plant operators to search for new ways in which to increase competitiveness and operating revenue.

A holistic approach to continuous improvement of underlying business processes must include consideration of the interaction between the available business resources as well as all employees involved in a project and the latest technology. An insight into how Bentley and Siemens are optimizing plant engineering and operation using new cloud-based technologies was recently revealed in a white paper from ARC Advisory Group. Based on experience and know-how from the leading experts in the field, the Process Industries Academy will provide training which will use practical examples to illustrate the significant elements of digitalization for more efficient planning and development as well as the successful operation of plants. Participants will experience how the development of a clear digital strategy improves collaboration, communication and coordination between the individual project teams and generates an ideal environment for optimizing the generation of information and digital workflows.
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Huajin Chemical starts maintenance at ABS plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- North Huajin Chemical Industry has taken off-stream its Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has started maintenance at the plant on June 10, 2018. The plant is likely to resume operations on July 7, 2018.

Located in Liaoning province of China, the ABS plant has a capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

North Huajin Chemical Industries Group Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets fertilizers, synthesis resins, ethylene, methanol, and dimethyl in China. The company also manufactures PVC plastic windows and doors, functional membranes, PVC-U section materials, and laminated plastic woven bags. Its fertilizer products include urea and slow release urea for use in agriculture, husbandry, and fishery markets. North Huajin Chemical Industries Group Corporation was founded in 2002 and is based in Panjin, China.
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