Honeywell technology selected for integrated petrochemicals facility

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced that PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical Company will adopt advanced heavy oil processing technology from Honeywell UOP for its integrated petrochemical complex in China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new facility will have an annual crude processing capacity of 20 million tons, helping to meet a national energy security strategy while transforming PetroChina Guangdong into a more fully integrated petrochemicals supplier.

Honeywell UOP will provide a range of technology licenses, engineering design, key equipment, and state-of-the-art catalysts and adsorbents, operator training, technical services for startup and continuing operation.

"This is the most economically sound solution for the scale and complexity of PetroChina's operations," said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager for Honeywell UOP's Petrochemicals and Refining Technologies business. "Our technologies will enable PetroChina Guangdong to produce aromatics on a large scale because of its ability to integrate refining operations with a full aromatics complex. We are working to make it one of the most efficient plants in the world."

The project includes a 3.7 million tons per annum (mtpa) Unicracking™ hydrocracking unit, which converts heavy vacuum gas oil into the raw materials for motor fuels and petrochemicals. The facility also will include two Honeywell UOP CCR Platforming™ units, each with a capacity of 3.0 mtpa, to produce fuels and aromatics, and hydrogen essential for other processes in the plant.

In addition, the plant will have a 2.6 mpta Light Desorbent Parex™ aromatics complex to produce high-purity paraxylene, the primary component of many plastic resins, films and fibers. This complex will be the largest single-train paraxylene unit in the world. The aromatics block includes the UOP Sulfolane™, Isomar™ and Tatoray™ processes and a UOP Olefin Removal Process unit to ensure maximum performance of the Parex process.

Honeywell UOP is the world's leading licensor of process technology to produce aromatics. As of 2018, Honeywell licensed more than 100 complexes and more than 700 individual process units for production of aromatics, including more than 370 CCR Platforming process units, 160 Sulfolane units, 80 Isomar units, 60 Tatoray units, and 100 Parex units worldwide.

PetroChina Guangdong is a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation. PetroChina Company Ltd. is the largest producer and distributor of petroleum and natural gas in China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axion Polymers has made further investments in its Manchester plastics recycling facility to improve waste processing capacity, said Plasticsnewseurope.

In addition, the company has increased the extrusion potential for its 100% recycled polymer grades. Looking at the recycling facility, additional equipment has been installed at the Shredder Waste Advanced Processing plant (SWAPP) in Trafford Park. This has ‘de=bottlenecked’ throughput of waste material. As a result, capacity has improved by 30%.

Materials currently being reprocessed are sourced from vehicle shredders and end-of-life vehicles, together with waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE). These are processed into Axpoly PP and ABS grades.

The increased processing capacity has resulted in a 20% increase in recycled polymer production, supporting additional reprocessing volumes.

Operated jointly with S Norton, one of the UK’s leading ferrous and non-ferrous metal recyclers, the SWAPP facility has an annual capacity of 200,000 tonnes. The process sees separation of non-metallic fractions (ASR or shredder ‘fluff’) from the equivalent of about 80,000 cars per year.

Judith Clayman, GM at Axion, said: “[The team] all pulled together to design and install the plant modifications as efficiently as possible and I am very pleased with the result."

The plant supports a 95% recycling recovery rate for cars to create a circular economy model for automotive materials.

Recycled Axpoly polymer can be used as a direct replacement for virgin material, or combined with virgin as necessary.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A London-based newspaper is reporting that the fast food chain McDonald’s is having recycling issues with the new paper straws it began using in place of plastic straws, said Plasticsnewseurope.

In an internal memo obtained by tabloid The Sun, McDonald’s says the new paper straws cannot be recycled and should be thrown in the garbage until further notice.

According to a spokesman for the fast-food chain, the paper straws were strengthened to prevent them from dissolving and the materials are recyclable, but the thickness of the paper straws makes it difficult for them to be processed.

"While the materials are recyclable, their current thickness makes it difficult for them to be processed by our waste solution providers, who also help us recycle our paper cups," a McDonald's spokesman told Press Association news agency.

Plastics straws have come under fire from environmental groups because they aren’t recycled, and can end up in the environment. US recycling experts have said material recovery facilities are not set up to recover plastic straws, even if the material itself is recyclable.

In an effort to help protect the environment, the new paper straws were introduced last fall and were planned to be rolled out to all 1,361 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland this year, according The Sun.

Chicago-based McDonald’s previously said no feasible alternative exists that can handle its 60 million daily US customers, but it planned to test non-plastic options in some US markets late last year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's output of chemical products dropped in July 2019 by 2.5% month on month.
However, production of basic chemicals increased by 2.9% in the first seven months of 2019, according to Rosstat's data.

According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the largest increase in production volumes on an annualized basis accounted for mineral fertilizers and polymers in primary form. Thus, 223 ,000 tonnes of ethylene were produced in July, compared to 260,000 tonnes a month earlier.

Angarsk Polymers Plant and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut down their production capacities for maintenance in July. Thus, 1,801,000 tonnes of this olefin were produced in January-July 2019, up by 2.4% year on year.

Benzene production in July amounted to 108,000 tonnes against 124,000 tonnes a month earlier, which was also a result of the shutdowns in Angarsk and Salavat. Overall output of this product reached 851,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 0.4% year on year.

July production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) were 97,900 tonnes (100% of the basic substance) versus 110,000 tonnes a month earlier.

SayanskKhimPlast and Bashkir Soda Company shut their capacities for scheduled maintenances in July. Overall output of caustic soda totalled 742,900 tonnes over the stated period, compared to 736,500 tonnes a year earlier.

1,990,000 tonnes of mineral fertilizers (in terms of 100% nutrients) were produced in July versus 1,920,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall, Russian plants produced 14,314,000 tonnes of fertilizers in January-July 2019, up by 3.3% year on year.

Last month's production of polymers in primary form decreased to 690,000 tonnes, up 7.6% from June due to scheduled maintenance works of several manufacturers. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 4,934,000,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by only 3.2% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polyethylene (PE) into Belarus dropped by 2.8% year on year in the first six months of 2019, reaching 62,900 tonnes. Local companies increased their purchasing of only high density polyethylene (HDPE), according to MRC's DataScope report.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, June PE imports to Belarus virtually remained at the level of the previous month and were 11,200 tonnes. Overall PE imports totalled 62,900 tonnes in January-June 2019, compared to 64,800 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) subsided, whereas demand for HDPE increased.

The structure of PE imports to Belarus by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

June 2019 total low density polyethylene (LDPE) imports rose to 3,600 tonnes from 3,200 tonnes a month earlier, local companies raised their purchasing in Azerbaijan. Overall imports of this PE grade into Belarus totalled about 20,000 tonnes in the first half of 2019, which virtually corresponded to the last year's figure.

June HDPE imports were about 5,300 tonnes, compared to 6,700 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies reduced their purchasing of film grade PE in Russia and of Middle Eastern pipe grade PE. Thus, HDPE imports totalled 30,100 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 6.8% year on year.

Overall LLDPE imports reached 12,900 tonnes in January-June 2019, whereas this figure was 16,900 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC