Wood awarded multi-million dollar steam methane reformer contract

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wood has secured a new multi-million dollar contract with Hyundai Engineering to provide detailed engineering services and material supply for a steam methane reformer, part of a new Wood-licensed hydrogen production unit for the Melaka Refinery Diesel Euro 5 Project in Malaysia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Wood will deploy its leading proprietary Terrace WallTM technology for hydrogen production as part of the contract, which will be delivered by the company’s process technology specialists based in Milan.

“Our extensive hydrogen technology expertise, global capabilities in the design and supply of fired heaters and our decades of experience in providing innovative modular solutions, positions Wood ideally to deliver this important contract for Hyundai Engineering," Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood’s Specialist Technical Solutions business said.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2017, Wood was awarded a new multi-million dollar contract by Total, supporting their Lindsey Oil Refinery located in North Killinghome, Lincolnshire, UK.
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Arlanxeo introduces new Keltan Eco based TPVs cradle-to-cradle applications

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arlanxeo, a global leader in performance elastomers, has introduced its new thermoplastic vulcanisates (TPVs) that combine Keltan Eco ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) with green fillers, plasticizers and thermoplastics, resulting in EPDM products with up to 90% sustainable ingredients, as per the company's press release.

Keltan Eco is the world’s first EPDM rubber manufactured using bio-based ethylene extracted from sugarcane. Depending on the ethylene content of each rubber grade, the proportion of bio-based material ranges between 50% and 70%.

After evaluating the potential of creating sustainable alternatives for traditional polyolefin thermoplastics, plasticizer oils and (reinforcing) fillers, ARLANXEO now developed thermoset rubber compounds and thermoplastic vulcanisates based on Keltan Eco EPDM with the specific aim of maximizing sustainable content without compromising technical performance.

By combining Keltan Eco EPDM with green compounding ingredients the new EPDM compounds can also be used for dynamic and static automotive sealing applications with 85 to 90 weight percent of its composition having sustainable origin and a technical performance comparable to standard EPDM compounds.

Niels van der Aar, Business Development Manager EPDM/NBR at ARLANXEO said: "We can now identify potential partners to (co-)develop these innovative bio-TPVs. TPVs using Keltan Eco EPDM offer an excellent opportunity to replace regular thermoset rubber compounds and thermoplastic vulcanisates. These bio-based TPVs can make a significant contribution to the circular economy, scoring well in a cradle-to-cradle approach and helping to lower the carbon footprint."

Studies have shown that both the characteristics and technical performance of these Keltan Eco EPDM grades are identical to those of conventional EPDMs produced via Ziegler Natta catalysis and/or those from monomers based on crude oil.

Today, these new bio-based EPDM grades are commercially tested and used in applications, such as window profiles for busses and buildings, automotive extrusion profiles, O-rings, TPV over-moldings for automotive interior, pharma applications, sport surfaces, and, most recently, in the sponge rubber layer directly underneath the outer cover of the official soccer ball of the Soccer World Cup 2018.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2018, Arlanxeo signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco Products Trading company, headquartered in Dhahran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pertaining to the marketing and sales of EPDM rubber.

Arlanxeo was established in April 2016 as a joint venture of Lanxess - a world-leading specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany - and Saudi Aramco - a major global energy and chemicals enterprise headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The two partners each hold a 50-percent interest in the joint venture. The business operations of Arlanxeo are assigned to the High Performance Elastomers and Tire & Specialty Rubbers business units.
MRC

BASF expands portfolio of hydrolysis-resistant polyesters

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has further developed its range of hydrolysis-resistant thermoplastic polyesters, as per BASF.

The expanded range of Ultradur HR (HR= hydrolysis resistant) comprises Ultradur B4330 G6 HR High Speed, a particularly flowable and laser markable grade with 30% glass-fiber reinforcement, Ultradur® B4330 G10 HR, a highly reinforced grade with 50% glass fibers as well as Ultradur B4331 G6 HR, the next generation with optimized processing characteristics. Ultradur® B4331 G6 HR is available from now on as uncolored grade, in a black laser markable version, and in orange for components in electric cars.

With its Ultradur HR grades, BASF offers highly resistant PBT materials (PBT= polybutylene terephthalate) which are especially suitable for use in challenging environments. They thus enable a long service life and an excellent operational reliability of automotive components. The HR grades also have a considerably increased resistance to alkaline media which trigger stress corrosion cracking. This is also true of the new Ultradur B4331 G6 HR grade with considerably improved melt stability and flowability. In tests, Ultradur® B4331 G6 HR does not display any increase in viscosity even with long residence times and at high temperatures - the best basis for stable and easy processing. The material can also be colored in orange (RAL 2003) in order to produce high-voltage plug-in connectors for electric cars. Thanks to the unusually high tracking resistance for PBT, the plug-in connectors can be designed smaller and still withstand the higher voltages in electric vehicles. Thus savings on costs and component weight are possible.

The Ultradur 4330 G6 HR series which is already available with 30% glass-fiber reinforcement has been expanded to include the particularly flowable and laser-markable Ultradur® B4330 G6 HR High Speed bk15045. With this grade, thin-walled parts and components which show a high ratio of flow path to wall thickness can easily be produced.

The new Ultradur B4330 G10 HR is filled with 50% glass fibers. It can therefore be processed to components which are simultaneously exposed to moisture and high temperatures (160°C, short term up to 180°C) and keep a high stiffness, e.g. steering modules in the charge air duct. In the temperature range from 140°C to 180°C, the material reaches almost the property level of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), which is usually employed in this kind of applications.
MRC

ADNOC aims to deepen investment and partnership opportunities with Chinese energy majors

MOSCOW (MRC) -- His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Group CEO, held a series of meetings with Chinese oil, gas, refining and petrochemical industry leaders, focused on expanding and deepening investment and partnership opportunities across ADNOC’s integrated Upstream and Downstream value chain, during a visit to Beijing, as per Hydrocarbonprocesing.

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber was in the Chinese capital as part of the effort to expand and deepen business and economic relations with one of the UAE’s largest trading partners.

“Energy cooperation is an important aspect of the UAE’s relations with China, which is the number one oil importer globally and a major growth market for ADNOC’s crude, refined products and petrochemicals. We are keen to expand and deepen that relationship and believe there are mutually beneficial partnership and co-investment opportunities across our Upstream and Downstream value chains. ADNOC is also ready to work with its existing and potential new partners to meet the growing demand for energy and petrochemical products in China," H.E. Dr. Al Jaber said.

At the meetings, H.E. Dr. Al Jaber discussed ADNOC’s plans to develop new Upstream oil and gas resources and to expand ADNOC’s Downstream operations, which will see production of petrochemicals triple to 14.4 million tons per annum by 2025.

As announced earlier this year during ADNOC’s Downstream Investment Forum, the company is making significant investments in new Downstream projects, both domestically and internationally, to grow its refining capability and expand its petrochemical production three-fold to 14.4 mpta by 2025. Planned projects include a world-scale, mixed liquid feedstock Naphtha cracker, as well as investments in new refinery capacity. As a result of the planned expansions in its Downstream business, ADNOC will create one of the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical complexes at Ruwais, located in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region.

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber added, "We are keen to partner with value-add strategic partners who can contribute technology, know-how and market access. We believe there is enormous potential to expand our relationship with Chinese companies, especially in the Downstream, as we continue our transformation journey, grow our portfolio of products and maximize value."

The agenda also touched on ADNOC’s new licensing strategy announced earlier this year, which will see six offshore and onshore exploration, development and production blocks made available for competitive bidding.
MRC

Valeros Memphis refinery shuts crude unit for repairs

MOSCOW (MRC) - Valero Energy Corp shut production on the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 180,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Memphis, Tennessee, refinery for repairs, sources familiar with plant operations said, as per Reuters.

A Valero spokeswoman did not reply to a request for comment.

Valero plans to keep the 80,000 bpd CDU shut until July 25 for unplanned repairs to clean out fouling from crude oil, the sources said.

As MRC informed previously, an explosion set off a huge fire at Valero Energy Corp’s 225,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Texas City, Texas, refinery on Thursday afternoon, 19 April 2018, but the fire was quickly contained, according the City of Texas City Emergency Management office. Sources familiar with plant operations said the explosion at about 5 p.m. (6 p.m. EDT/2200 GMT) was on a 12,000-bpd alkylation unit.
MRC