Refinery CDUs back to normal operations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Motiva Enterprises returned two crude distillation units (CDUs) back to normal operations at its 607,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Motiva restarted the 80,000 bpd VPS-2 CDU on Sunday and restored production to full on the 195,000 bpd VPS-4 CDU on Saturday after clearing water from the fuel gas lines supplying the units, the sources said.

In an unsigned statement, Motiva declined comment.

As MRC informed earlier, Motiva Enterprises plans to shut the big crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, by Sept. 5 for a 60-day overhaul.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- W. R. Grace & Co. has licensed its Unipol PP (polypropylene) process technology to Datong Coal Mine Group Co. for a new PP plant in Datong, China, as per Apic-online.

The 430,000-t/y PP unit, which will also utilize Grace's Consista catalysts, is scheduled to be completed in 2022. Cost of the project was not given.

"We are excited to partner with Grace and invest in the Unipol PP process technology," noted Kuanqiang Jia, chairman of Olefin Branch Co. "This technology enables us to efficiently produce a broad range of products for our customers and keep up with increasing demands for non-phthalate resins in the region."

The Unipol process technology, along with the Consista catalysts, will permit Datong Coal to produce more than 200 resin grades.

As MRC informed earlier, W. R. Grace & Co. completed the USD416 million acquisition of the Polyolefin Catalysts business of Albemarle Corporation.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Angarsk Polymers Plant has resumed its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production after scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

According to the enterprise’s customers, Angarsk ZP completely resumed LDPE production on 12 August after a lengthy scheduled maintenance works, and began the first polymer shipments. The scheduled shutdown started on 22 June and was initially planned to last for one month. The plant's annual production capacity is about 75,000 tonnes.

It is also worth noting that next shutdowns for maintenance at Russian plants are scheduled for September.
Tomskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez will stop their capacities.

Angarsk Polymer Plant (controlled by Rosneft through OOO Neft-Aktiv) is the only petrochemical full-cycle plant in Eastern Siberia. The bulk of the produced ethylene is used by the plant for the production of LDPE, styrene monomer (SM) and polystyrene (PS). Straight-run gasoline and hydrocarbon gases, mainly produced by OAO Angarskaya NHK, are the feedstocks for the plant.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Phillips 66 restarted the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 253,600-barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance, Louisiana, refinery following a month-long shutdown, said sources familiar with plant operations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Phillips 66 issued a statement saying it had no comment.

The 120,000-bpd FCCU was originally supposed to be shut for a few days when the entire refinery was taken down as a precaution on July 10 ahead of Hurricane Barry. But malfunctions developed during restart attempts on the unit, leading to weeks of repairs on the FCCU, the sources said.

As MRC informed earlier, Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Motiva Enterprises plans to shut the big crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, by Sept. 5 for a 60-day overhaul, sources said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In addition to the 325,000-bpd VPS-5 CDU, Motiva plans to shut the naphtha processing complex, which includes the 115,000-bpd naphtha hydrotreating unit 2 (NHTU2), 85,000-bpd catalytic reformer 5 (CRU 5) and 50,000-bpd isomerization unit for the work, scheduled to finish by Nov. 5, the sources said. Motiva issued a statement saying that it declined to comment.

While the other units are shut, Motiva has also has scheduled a 10-day shutdown of the 105,000-bpd hydrocracking unit 2 (HCU 2), according to the sources. VPS-5, the NPC and HCU 2 were all added to the refinery during a five-year, USD10 billion expansion that finished in 2012, more than doubling the capacity of the Port Arthur plant.

Some of the work on VPS-5 will include replacement of piping damaged in early June 2012, the sources said. About six weeks after starting up for the first time, the unit was shut for a week to repair a leak. During the restart in June 2012, thousands of gallons of caustic sodium hydroxide were unknowingly vaporized, causing widespread chemical corrosion and forcing VPS-5 to be shut for seven months of repairs.

The damage to VPS-5 was a factor that led to the split-up of Motiva by co-owners Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco in 2017. Motiva is now a subsidiary of Aramco. VPS-5 is the largest of three CDUs at the refinery doing the primary breakdown of crude oil into hydrocarbon feedstocks for all other production units as well as making unfinished motor fuels. The other two CDUs will remain in operation.

Hydrotreaters remove sulfur from motor fuels and their feedstocks in compliance with U.S. environmental rules. Reformers convert low-octane refining byproducts into high-octane components that are blended into gasoline.

Isomerization units also convert byproducts into components blended into gasoline. Hydrocrackers convert gas oil into motor fuels, primarily diesel, which is one of the most lucrative products made by U.S. Gulf Coast refiners.
MRC