Tanker ship traffic to and from major refineries blocked amid protests

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Coast Guard closed the upper Houston Ship Channel as 11 Greenpeace USA protesters blocked a portion of the country’s largest oil port near Baytown, Texas, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the agency's statement.

The channel is closed from Light 102A to Light 104, the Coast Guard said in a notice.

The closure of the Ship Channel at that location blocks tanker ship traffic to and from five major refineries in the Houston area, including Exxon Mobil Corp’s 560,500-barrel-per-day refinery in Baytown, which is 26 miles (42 km) east of downtown Houston.

One ship was waiting to enter the Ship Channel, which links the Gulf of Mexico and the Port of Houston, the nation’s busiest petrochemical port, and two ships were waiting to exit the waterway, the Coast Guard said.

Ship traffic to Texas City, Texas, where two refineries and several chemical plants are located, was not affected by the closure on the upper Ship Channel.

Affected by the shutdown were also Valero Energy Corp’s 205,000-bpd Houston refinery, LyondellBasell’s 263,776-bpd Houston refinery, Chevron Corp’s 112,229-bpd Pasadena, Texas, refinery and Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 340,000-bpd Deer Park, Texas, refinery.

All of the refineries are able to ship out products via pipelines and most have enough crude on hand to continue operating at maximum capacity for several days.

The Houston Ship Channel stretches 53 miles (85 km) from its entrance in the Gulf of Mexico to the Port of Houston.
MRC

MRPL postpones restart of its PP plant in Mangalore until the 3rd week of September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), is likely to keep its polypropylene (PP) plant off-line, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source informed that, the company has delayed the restart of the plant, until the third week of September, 2019.

The plant was shut on August 9, 2019, owing to a landslide near the pipeline area, thus damaging the pipeline. Earlier, the plant was supposed to resume operations by end-August, 2019.

Located at Mangalore, Karnataka, the plant has a PP production capacity of 440,000 mt/year.

We also remind that the company shut this plant for maintenance from mid-April to early July, 2019.

As MRC wrote before, in June 2015, MRPL successfully commenced commercial production of PP from its polypropylene plant as part of its phase-III refinery expansion and upgradation project in Mangaluru. The plant has a capacity to produce 440,000 tonnes of PP per annum. Feedstock for the PP plant - polymer grade propylene - is being produced from upstream petrochemical fluidised catalytic cracking unit of the refinery. Technology provider for the PP plant is Novolen of Germany. The plant has been engineered and constructed by Engineers India Ltd.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), is an oil refinery at Mangalore and is a subsidiary of ONGC, set up in 1993. The refinery is located at Katipalla, north from centre of Mangalore city. The refinery was established after displacing five villages of Bala, Kalavar, Kuthetoor, Katipalla, and Adyapadi.
MRC

Meridian Energy completes water supply and wastewater agreements for Davis Refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the leading innovator in the petroleum refining industry, has announced that it has executed long-term water supply and wastewater agreements with the City of Dickinson, North Dakota, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under these agreements the City will provide all of the industrial water needs for the Davis Refinery, being built by Meridian to the west of Dickinson, near the town of Belfield in Billings County, and will collect, treat, recycle and dispose of all wastewater from the Davis Refinery.

These important commercial arrangements with the City of Dickinson will allow Meridian to construct and operate the Davis Refinery without gathering and treating water from the Dakota Aquifer, and building and operating water treatment facilities at the Davis Refinery. This marks a major step forward for Meridian, as the Company continues to prepare the Davis Refinery site, in parallel with the significant design and module fabrication planning taking place at the Company’s Houston facilities.

Dan Hedrington, Sr. Project Manager for Short Elliott Hendrickson and the Davis Refinery, had this to say on the latest Meridian milestone, "It was a pleasure working with City Administrator Joe Gaa and his staff. It may have taken some time to complete this agreement, but in return we have an environmentally sound contract that will benefit Meridian and the City as well. Processed wastewater from Dickinson, which is currently being discharged into the river, will be recycled generating a new revenue opportunity for the City. This allows Meridian to reduce the environmental impact of their facilities and activities at the refinery." This achievement shows both the City of Dickinson’s and Meridian’s commitment to innovation while being environmentally minded.

As MRC wrote before, in late January 2019, Meridian Energy Group, Inc., announced that the company had signed an agreement with McDermott out of Houston, Texas under which McDermott will finalize the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the Meridian Davis Refinery in Billings County, North Dakota.
MRC

Honeywell helps Braskem Idesa incorporate intelligent wearables to enhance training and safety

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell has announced that Braskem Idesa has adopted a hands-free, wearable connected technology solution at its plant in Veracruz, Mexico, according to Plastemart.

Honeywell's Intelligent Wearables will allow Braskem Idesa to improve productivity and compliance with process procedures, capture the expertise of experienced workers and provide critical insights and information effectively to trainees and support workers in the field. Honeywell is delivering a complete outcome-based solution that tracks specific key performance indicators and integrates hardware, software and services, and a full Wi-Fi infrastructure to support use of the solution across the plant. The wearable technology will also accelerate training and ensure safety for field operators at the Braskem Idesa facility.

"With this solution, Braskem Idesa is embracing the digital transformation that will enable us to retain our leadership in the petrochemicals industry," said Roberto Velasco Gutierrez, industrial director, Braskem Idesa. "Capturing all the relevant expertise and data within the organization and getting it to workers wherever and whenever needed, will help get trainees safely into the field faster and ensure that every worker operates to Braskem Idesa's best standards."

"Braskem Idesa has not only taken an important step toward Industry 4.0 but has now also replaced paper-based and manual operations with a sophisticated solution that's both digital and wireless," said Vincent Higgins, director of technology and innovation, Honeywell Connected Enterprise, Industrial. "Wearable, voice-controlled computer headsets and software eliminate the need for clipboards, pens, and flashlights. Our offering will help Braskem Idesa capture expertise and document critical tasks to ensure operational compliance." Honeywell's solution for field worker competency and productivity enables Braskem Idesa to tie its plant performance directly to the performance of its workers, critical to the success of any industrial enterprise. By connecting field workers with remote advice, Honeywell Intelligent Wearables also reduce the need for site visits from experts, empower workers to continue learning, become their best and effectively share their knowledge with peers.

The Braskem Idesa petrochemical complex has a production capacity of 1.05 million tons of ethylene and polyethylene. It is one of the largest petrochemical production sites in the Americas.

As MRC informed earlier, in late June 2016, Braskem Idesa, the 75-25 joint venture of Braskem and Idesa (Mexico City), inaugurated the Ethylene XXI complex at Nanchital, part of the Coatzacoalcos petrochemical hub in the southern Mexican state of Veracruz. The USD5.2-billion dollar project took some five years to complete. The 1.05-million m.t./year cracker feeds the complex’s two HDPE plants, which have capacities of 400,000 m.t./year and 350,000 m.t./year, each unit based on Ineos technology. The third PE unit has capacity of 300,000 m.t./year of LDPE, using LyondellBasell technology.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

Axens and SP3H join forces to develop and commercialize a real-time microanalyzer for liquids

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axens and SP3H have signed a strategic partnership to develop and commercialize an industrial application of the microanalyzer developed by SP3H for the refining, biofuel and petrochemical markets, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This rugged, smart and highly efficient microanalyzer, allows in situ analysis of liquid fluids, in particular to measure octane number and biofuel, olefin, benzene and aromatics content. The information thereby collected is transmitted in real time to the industrial plant's control system.

The solution developed will be integrated into the digital service offer that is already marketed by Axens, especially the APC (Advanced Process Control) and Connect’InTM, which features the latest information processing innovations developed by Axens, for process control and optimization.

The microanalyzer uses part of the optical and electronic components of the low-cost infrared scanner developed by SP3H and approved by the automotive industry. It will be adapted to meet the highest level of anti-explosion standards (ATEX zone 1 or IEC/Ex). Axens provides its expertise and skills regarding design and engineering in the Oil & Gas industry.

On signing the partnership, Pierre Beccat, Executive Vice President of Axens in charge of Technology, Development and Innovation, stated: “This partnership is in line with our objective to provide high-quality digital services to our clients, enabling them to significantly improve their operating margin and the reliability of their facilities, all while respecting the environment."

"This strategic partnership agreement with Axens will enable us to integrate and combine our connected sensors with Axens' solutions to accelerate the deployment of innovative high added value services in the field of refining, biofuels and petrochemicals. We are providing operators with one of the links in the digital transformation of their processes, a 'must have' for maintaining their competitiveness over the next decades," Alain Lunati, CEO of SP3H, said.
MRC