BASF presents new concrete additives at International Conference on Autoclaved Aerated Concrete

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF is presenting its broad portfolio of innovative solutions for the aerated concrete industry under its brand name of Master Builders Solutions® at the 6th International Conference on Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, which is being held in Potsdam from September 4 to 6, 2018, as per the company's press-release.

Visitors can learn about the benefits of concrete additives that improve the entire AAC production process.

MasterCast allows faster and more efficient production. The benefit to the customers is a shorter pre-curing time. In the pre-curing phase of the production, the concrete is expanding and at the same time setting. The reduction in the water content of the concrete ensures shorter setting times. “Concrete additives from the MasterCast series for the production of autoclaved aerated concrete disperse the binder particles efficiently, allowing the water content of the fresh concrete to be significantly reduced,” says Nicoletta Zeminian, Segment Manager Manufactured Concrete at BASF. In addition, MasterCast improves the rheology without impairing the pore formation process. This leads to a significant reduction in the setting time with considerable time savings. By shortening the duration of the pre-curing phase, it is possible to achieve a faster turnover of the molds, leading to an overall acceleration of the manufacturing process and an increase in the productivity of the plant.

Another benefit to the customer is the cost saving, as a result of the composition of the material, which can be changed to a less expensive one. At many plants, the individual production steps have been harmonized with each other to achieve maximum efficiency, therefore the target is not always to accelerate production. In this case, the main advantage of MasterCast is the possible reduction of up to 15 percent in the cement and lime content, with no change in the pre-curing time – resulting in significant material cost savings.

Other products from Master Builders Solutions reinforce this effect and offer additional benefits to AAC producers. The MasterFinish range of release agents allow easier formwork removal and more efficient cleaning and maintenance of formwork in the long term. MasterPel gives the AAC a hydrophobic effect; as a result, it absorbs significantly less water but remains open to the diffusion of air and water vapour, preventing moisture accumulations in the material. Master X-Seed acts as a hardening accelerator, allowing superior efficiency of the production and
MasterFiber reduces drying shrinkage and cracking, improves stability and reduces the risk that aerated concrete may fracture during the handling.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In August 2018, Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd began commercial operation for mixed xylene at its Aichi Refinery, as per the company's press release.

Under its Fifth Consolidated Medium-term Management Plan, which calls for promotion of the fuel-to-chemical business, Idemitsu has made progress on installation of new equipment at the Aichi Refinery. The Aichi Refinery recently completed and began commercial operation of its mixed xylene equipment*2. With production capacity of 170,000 t/year, this equipment not only will contribute to expansion of the petrochemical business but also will enable us to flexibly deal with changing supply and demand trend of petroleum products and petrochemical raw materials.

This product is used widely as a base raw material in products commonly used in everyday living, such as polyester textiles and PET plastic bottles. Plans call for selling it chiefly in Asian markets, where demand is booming (with growth of 5%/year).

Through deeper integration of our strengths in the petroleum business and the petrochemicals business, we will continue to contribute to more enriched society and living while also supporting the social infrastructure as an energy supplier.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yeochun NCC Co., a joint venture between Daelim Industrial and Hanwha Chemical, said it plans to spend 740-billion won to increase ethylene and butadiene capacity in South Korea, according to Apic-online.

The project involves construction of a second naphtha cracking plant, which will increase ethylene capacity to 915,000 t/y from 580,000 t/y, and setting up a new butadiene plant to expand capacity to 370,000 t/y from 240,000 t/y. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in the fall of 2020.

Yeochun NCC said the new capacity will allow it to provide stable raw materials to its affiliates, and increase its competitiveness. In addition, the project is expected to create 1,000 new jobs a year over the next three years.

As MRC wrote before, YNCC plans to undertake planned maintenance at its No.3 naphtha cracker at Yeosu in October-November 2018 for a period of one month. Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the No.3 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 470,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 230,000 mt/year.

South Korea’s Yeochun NCC (YNCC) pyrolyzes naphtha to produce basic feedstock materials for the petrochemical industry. YNCC, a joint venture between South Korean firms Hanwha and Daelim, is a key exporter of ethylene and propylene in the country.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco Upstream Technology Company, a Saudi Aramco company, has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Russia’s Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) to promote cooperation in the area of joint research, primarily to explore oil and gas industry innovation with specific focus on upstream technology, as per Process-worldwide.

Under the MOU, Saudi Aramco and MSU will conduct programmes and projects to include developing new advanced materials applied in the oil and gas industry as well as methods and techniques for reservoir and oilfield data acquisition, analysis and computational modeling.

The collaboration will also entail both parties organising bilateral joint laboratories, symposia, workshops and conferences. A new Saudi Aramco Research Center will also be established at the MSU Science Park in Moscow. The University has a vast experience of fundamental research in the areas of geophysics and geochemistry, digital modelling and big data analytics, and collaboration.

As MRC earlier said, Saudi Arabia has called off both the domestic and international stock listing of state oil giant Aramco, billed as the biggest such deal in history. The financial advisors working on the proposed listing have been disbanded, as Saudi Arabia shifts its attention to a proposed acquisition of a “strategic stake” in local petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Higher base chemicals demand and feedstock security for heavy naphtha are driving the development of a new wave of mega-integrated refinery and chemical sites in China. Private Chinese chemical producers, including Hengli and Rong Sheng, are back-integrating their chemical plants with refineries by building mega-integrated facilities, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Wood Mackenzie expects these projects to come on stream in the next 12 to 24 months.

Both the Hengli and Rong Sheng projects are expected to add over 9 million tonnes (Mt) of paraxylene (PX) capacity by 2021. This wave of Chinese investment outpaces robust demand growth for the polyester chain and, as a result, we expect China to reduce its PX imports by more than 4 Mt by 2021.

"The question is what happens to Japan and South Korea which are major PX exporters to the world's largest PX importer? They will have limited alternative export outlets and will almost certainly need to curtail their PX operating rates," said Steve Jenkins, vice president, Wood Mackenzie.

These new mega-integrated sites could yield up to 45 wt (weight) % of chemicals (the majority of which is PX, the primary feedstock for China's massive polyester industry), two to three times more than a traditional integrated site, whilst processing heavy crudes.

However, the high capital expenditure required for such sites has an impact on return on investment and development timelines. But once built, the integrated sites are the first quartile in terms of competitive position against their refining and chemical peers. The margin uplift over refining for these mega-integrated sites could be significant, between USD8/bbl and USD14/bbl.

Sushant Gupta, research director, Wood Mackenzie said: "The Hengli and Rong Sheng projects could add up to 500,000 barrels per day (b/d) of medium- to heavy-crude demand in the market when they start operation. This additional demand would further tighten the heavy crude market as we expect a shortage of heavy crude at a global level in the medium term.

"As these integrated sites are mostly configured to process Middle Eastern crude, the ongoing trade tension between China and the US is unlikely to affect the projects. US sanctions on Iran crude exports, on the other hand, could limit their crude choices.

"We expect knock-on implications on the refining and fuels markets in Asia and beyond as these projects also produce large amounts of co-products such as gasoline and middle-distillates (jet fuel and diesel/ gasoil)."

China is expected to have a large surplus of about 780,000 b/d in middle distillates and about 500,000 b/d in gasoline by 2020. About 20% and 40% of the surplus in middle distillates and gasoline, respectively, comes from the Hengli and Rong Sheng projects alone. There is another consequence for the gasoline market. Exporters of PX to China, mainly South Korea and Japan, will need to curtail their PX production which could see more gasoline supply of about 150,000 b/d to 200,000 b/d from these two countries.

Higher diesel/ gasoil exports from China is welcome as it helps meet the higher demand for marine gasoil in the shipping sector resulting from the IMO regulation starting in 2020. However, additional supply of gasoline from China, South Korea, and Japan would add to the global surplus of gasoline post-2020.

Furthermore, the development of such large and competitive projects, driven by chemicals, could increase the threat of closures for less competitive standalone refinery sites in China and Europe.

Mr. Gupta said: "Private refiners’ margins are already challenged by various factors, including tougher government policies, and now these bigger integrated sites will no doubt turn up the pressure."

As MRC reported previously, in May 2018, INVISTA’s technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (IPT), and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co.,Ltd. (Hengli) reached an agreement to license INVISTA’s latest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) process technology for Hengli’s fourth PTA line. Hengli’s first three PTA lines, the first of which began operation in 2012, also utilize INVISTA’s technology and have a combined capacity of 6.6 million metric tonnes per year. The fourth line will have a design capacity of 2.5 million metric tonnes per year and will be installed at Changxing Island, Liaoning Province of China.
MRC