Successful startup of world’s largest dehydrogenation plant using Clariant’s catalyst technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has announced the successful startup of its CATOFIN catalyst at Hengli Group’s new mixed-feed dehydrogenation plant in Dalian, China, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new unit combines propane dehydrogenation (PDH) with iso-butane dehydrogenation (BDH) process technologies, and it will produce over 1 million tons of olefins per year -- becoming the world’s largest plant using CATOFIN catalyst technology.

The state-of-the-art process pairs Clariant’s CATOFIN catalyst together with McDermott’s Lummus process technology and is proven to enable high reliability and yields, cost efficiency and simplicity. In addition to the CATOFIN catalyst, the facility is using Clariant’s innovative Heat Generating Material (HGM) to produce its on-purpose olefins.

Founded in 1994, Hengli Group is one of China’s foremost suppliers of petrochemicals. Hengli Group’s new dehydrogenation plant in Dalian, China is designed to process 500 KTA of propane and 800 KTA of iso-butane feeds to produce propylene and iso-butylene.

Guangqin Peng, Chief Engineer of Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co Ltd, stated, "We are very proud of our achievements on this groundbreaking project. The fast, smooth and successful startup of this world’s largest paraffin dehydrogenation unit would not have been possible without reliable and experienced partners like Clariant."

CATOFIN is an extremely reliable technology for light paraffin dehydrogenation. Operating at thermodynamically-advantaged reactor pressure and temperature to maximize yield, the process relies on Clariant’s highly selective CATOFIN catalyst and the company’s patented metal-oxide HGM to deliver high conversion rates. With the successful startup of the Hengli plant, this now marks Clariant’s 21st CATOFIN unit in operation, totaling over 9 million tons of olefin production capacity globally.

Stefan Heuser, Senior Vice President & General Manager Business Unit Catalysts at Clariant, added, "We are honored that our CATOFIN catalysts and Heat Generating Material were selected by Hengli for its new production facility. Together with our technology partner, McDermott’s Lummus Technology, we are proving, yet again, the outstanding benefits of CATOFIN for propane and iso-butane dehydrogenation."

As MRC wrote earlier, in March 2017, Clariant was awarded a contract by Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. to develop a new propane dehydrogenation unit in cooperation with CB&I. The project includes the license and engineering design of the unit, which is to be built in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China. The Dongguan plant will be one of the largest single-train dehydrogenation units in the world. Clariant's technology partner CB&I will base the plant's design on its Catofin® catalytic dehydrogenation technology, which uses Clariant's tailor-made Catofin catalyst and Heat Generating Material (HGM).

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.

Saudi Aramco asks banks to pitch for roles in planned IPO

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco has formally asked major banks to submit proposals for potential roles in its planned initial public offering, reproted Reuters with reference to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Aramco’s planned IPO, which could potentially raise USD100 billion, is the centerpiece of Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation drive to attract foreign investment and diversify away from oil.

Request for proposals were sent to banks few days day ago, they said.

Aramco declined to comment.

The formal IPO process begins after Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had said in June the government remained fully committed to the IPO, expecting it to take place between 2020 and early 2021.

His comments triggered a series of approaches by international investment banks which wanted to be involved, Reuters had reported citing sources.

Work on the deal was halted in 2018 when Aramco began a process to acquire a 70% stake in petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

The IPO process could formalize roles for some of the banks that had been previously working on the transaction, one of the sources said.

Before the IPO process was halted, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and HSBC were picked to play a leading role in the world’s biggest ever IPO when the plan was first announced in 2016.

Boutique investment banks Moelis & Co and Evercore were also hired by Aramco as independent advisers, sources had said at that time.

As MRC informed previously, in mid-August 2019, Saudi Aramco unveiled a USD15 billion deal to expand its global refining footprint and held its first-ever earnings call with financial analysts, twin moves that could bolster investor confidence as the state-owned oil giant revs up plans to list shares.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

Fujian Hongrun resumes production at PS plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fujian Hongrun has brought on-stream its polystyrene (PS) unit following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has resumed operations at the unit on August 22, 2019. The plant remained under maintenance for about seven weeks.

Located in Quanzhou, Fujian, China, the plant has a production capacity of 60,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, Jiangsu Lvan Qingfeng has brought on-stream its PS unit, following a maintenance turnaround. The company resumed operations at the unit, on July 24, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance on July 7, 2019. Located in Jiangsu, China, the plant has a production capacity of 150,000 mt/year.
MRC

Germany planning plastic bag ban to tackle waste

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Germany is planning to introduce a law to ban the use of plastic bags as voluntary agreements with retailers to curb usage failed to yield “good enough” results, according to environment minister Svenja Schulze, said Plasticsnewseurope.

“My ministry will get a plastic bag ban on its way,” Reuters quoted Schulze as saying 11 Aug, without giving further details.

The move, according to Schulze, is part of a strategy to make the nation less of a “throw-away society” and reduce the overall plastic consumption in the country.

The Sunday daily Bild am Sonntag originally unveiled the plans, which were later confirmed by the minister.
MRC

US refiners limit crude processing amid slack fuel demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refineries have cut the volume of crude processed so far this year, but stocks of gasoline and distillates remain ample, highlighting the slack demand for transportation fuels, reported Reuters.

Fuel consumption has stalled, part of a worldwide slowdown in oil demand associated with the slackening of manufacturing and freight activity.

US refineries have reduced crude input by an average of 247,000 barrels per day since the start of the year compared with the same period in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Year-to-date processing rates have fallen for the first time since 2011 and by the most since the recession of 2008/09 (“Weekly petroleum status report”, EIA, Aug 21).

Refinery crude consumption has fallen by around 56 million barrels so far compared with the same period in 2018.

Refineries cut processing sharply during the regular maintenance season in March and April and have never made up the shortfall.

Processing has remained at or below prior-year rates throughout the summer driving season, normally the highest demand of the year.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ 335,000 bpd refinery on the East Coast has been shut since a fire and explosion on June 21, which may have contributed to the loss of crude processing.

But processing was already running below prior-year rates before the plant exploded and has been below 2018 rates for 13 out of the last 16 weeks since the start of May.

Refiners on the East Coast have cut processing by an average of almost 120,000 bpd so far this year (mostly due to the Philadelphia explosion).

But they have also reduced processing by 87,000 bpd in the Midwest, 15,000 bpd along the Gulf Coast and 45,000 bpd on the West Coast.

Despite the reduction in processing, there has been no shortage of either gasoline or distillate fuel oil, with gasoline stocks level with last year and distillates comfortably above it.

Fuel consumption is broadly unchanged compared with 2018, with the volume of gasoline supplied to domestic customers flat so far this year and distillate consumption down slightly.

Forward refining margins for gasoline and distillates delivered at the end of year do not provide refiners with any significant incentive to boost processing compared with normal seasonal patterns.

Fuel consumption is stuck in the doldrums and unlikely to accelerate much until the domestic and international economies improve.
MRC