SIBUR upgrades and ramps up PTA production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR’s Blagoveshchensk site has held a ceremony to celebrate the completed reconstruction of the terephthalic acid production facility, the only one currently in Russia, as per the company's press release.

The attendees included Pavel Sorokin, Deputy Minister of Energy, Radiy Khabirov, Acting Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding, heads of partners and contractors that participated in the project, and other high-profile guests.

Terephthalic acid (TPA) is a precursor to polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the world’s most widespread polymers that is used in the production of plastic bottles for beverages, synthetic fibres, various packaging, and medical supplies. TPA is also used to make eco-friendly plasticisers for toys, flooring and other products. In Russia, annual consumption of TPA amounts to around 500 kt. An increase in output from 272 to 350 ktpa driven by the upgrade of the existing capacities in Blagoveshchensk will help largely phase out reliance on imports.

A modern gas oxidiser built as part of the project makes it so the facility no longer requires natural gas, which will result in 50% less emissions. The transition to rotary pressure filters will translate into 1.5 times lower industrial wastewater discharges from the terephthalic acid production. In addition, the new air cooling system will almost fully prevent excessive evaporation into the atmosphere resulting from a significant release of heat during terephthalic acid synthesis. After the upgrade, vapour will return to the process flow, improving the facility’s energy efficiency multifold.

The project spanned 2017–2019 and included upgrading more than 150 units of the core process equipment as well as most of the auxiliary equipment. The scope of key works covered 11 buildings on the production site. The general designer was GSE-Giprokauchuk, a Russian design institute. Over 40 Russian contractors were engaged to carry out construction, installation and commissioning works. A significant part of the equipment was sourced from domestic producers, including Volgogradneftemash, Tatneft Trade and Technology House, and Dimitrovgradkhimmash.

More than RUB 6 bn was spent on the project, including an approximately RUB 1 bn loan from the Foundation for Development of Single-Industry Towns.

Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding: "While not SIBUR's most large-scale project, the TPA production upgrade is definitely the one that is most sophisticated, as we have overhauled and expanded the existing capacities instead of building new ones from scratch. It was well worth it though, as the additional volumes will ensure 100% capacity utilisation of Perm’s eco-friendly plasticiser facility that we launched this spring. We also outfitted the site with cutting-edge solutions to make TPA production even greener and more efficient."

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. We own and operate Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and are a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. As of 31 March 2014, SIBUR operated 27 production sites located all over Russia, had over 1,400 large customers engaged in the energy, chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide and employed over 27,000 personnel.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toray Advanced Composites (Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S.) and BASF (Wyandotte, Mich., U.S.) have signed a manufacturing and supply agreement focused on the production of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes for the automotive and industrial markets, said BASF.

Toray Advanced Composites will produce glass fiber- or carbon fiber-reinforced tapes using BASF’s Ultramid PA6 (polyamide) engineering thermoplastics.

"BASF has been a valued partner for Toray Advanced Composites for many years. This new supply agreement strengthens our ability to make the highest quality tapes, affordably, for our customers," says Keisuke Ishii, CEO of Toray Advanced Composites.

According to the companies, this supply agreement enhances manufacturing capacity, providing wider commercial availability of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials, which they say will will enable the adoption of advanced materials for lightweight, structural components in a range of industrial markets. For example, the companies say that automotive manufacturers can use the new materials to design and rapidly produce optimized components at a lower cost, while using the latest fabrication methods such as automated stamp forming and overmolding.

"By developing innovative lightweight, composite material technologies for automotive applications, this partnership underlines both companies’ strong commitment to drive sustainable solutions," says Jeff DeAlmeida, VP, transportation industry, performance materials North America, BASF.

Toray Advanced Composites’ continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials are said to be compatible with a range of BASF’s Ultramid compounds, enabling more efficient, multifunctional parts to be produced in fewer steps and with less labor compared to more traditional methods.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Production on the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) was cut back about 15% at Lyondell Basell Industries’ 263,776-barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery, sources familiar with plant operations said, as per Reuters.

The 110,000-bpd FCCU reduced production first because of maintenance and then due to a malfunction at Lyondell’s Channelview, Texas chemical complex, the sources said.

Lyondell spokeswoman Patricia Shieh-Lance declined to comment.

The Channelview complex began performing maintenance on Saturday, reducing its capacity to receive petrochemicals produced along with gasoline by the FCCU, the sources said.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBasell has announced that Shandong Chambroad Petrochemicals Co. Ltd., (Shandong Chambroad), has selected the LyondellBasell Hostalen "Advance Cascade Process" (Hostalen ACP) technology.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- New Delhi?India's Finance Ministry has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on purified terephthalic acid (PTA) from Thailand and South Korea, reported Apic-online with reference to the Hindu Business Line.

The duties were put into place after Reliance Industries Ltd. and MCPI Private Ltd. filed petitions seeking review investigations.

Based on recommendations of the Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry in its sunset review findings, the Revenue Dept. has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty of USD45.43 per ton on PTA exported by Indorama Petrochem Ltd. and TPT Petrochemicals PCL. For all other Thai exporters, an anti-dumping duty of USD62.55 per ton has been imposed.

An anti-dumping duty of USD27.32 per ton has been im-posed on PTA produced by Hanwha General Chemical Co. and exported by Hyosung TNC Corp.

For PTA exported by Taekwang Industrial Co., India has imposed anti-dumping duties of USD23.61 per ton. For all other South Korean exporters, an anti-dumping duty of USD78.28 per ton has been imposed.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- According to Judy Clark, Director, Project Engineering, Cheniere, the LNG operator will become the second-largest LNG operator by capacity by 2020, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

At present, Cheniere accounts for approximately half of US LNG export capacity in operation or under construction. These facts were discussed during the Rice Global Engineering and Construction Forum (RGF) roundtable. Held monthly on the Rice University campus in Houston, Texas, the RGF roundtable discusses the latest challenges and opportunities facing the contracting side of the global engineering and construction industry.

Ms. Clark’s discussion focused on several challenges that Cheniere faced in developing two LNG sites—Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi—and a sneak peek at the expansion of the Corpus Christi LNG terminal. By 2020, Cheniere expects to have more than 31 MMtpy of LNG capacity operational. This includes five liquefaction trains at Sabine Pass and two liquefaction trains at Corpus Christi. The company is also developing a sixth train at Sabine Pass—FID greenlighted and fully permitted, with a total capacity of 4.5 MMtpy—and a third train at Corpus Christi (completion by 2022), along with an 9.5-MMtpy mid-scale LNG project.

During the construction of Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi, Cheniere faced several engineering and uncontrollable challenges. One of the major challenges was uncontrollable market changes. “When Sabine Pass was built, it was originally set up as an import terminal,” said Mr. Clark, “the onset of US shale gas production completely changed market dynamics for the US LNG industry. This shift led to additional investments in adding new liquefaction trains to the existing facility."

Another major factor was Mother Nature. Both sites were in the path of three hurricanes: Rita, Ike and Harvey. However, neither site succumbed to any major damage. The Corpus Christi site only lost approximately one week of construction time during Hurricane Harvey.

The Corpus Christi site is also being expanded beyond three liquefaction trains. Cheniere plans to begin Phase 3 work (e.g., CCL Stage 3), which includes the construction of seven midscale LNG trains. FID on the project is scheduled for 2020, with operations to begin in 2025. Once completed, Trains 1–7 will have a total capacity of 9.5 MMtpy.
MRC