LyondellBasell announces its Gulf Coast plant is 20% complete

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell announced construction on its propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) plant has surpassed 20 percent completion, with work shifting from foundation and infrastructure construction to vertical assembly, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A key milestone of the project’s progress was marked by the recent delivery of a 25-story-tall, 601-ton distillation tower, which will be the tallest piece of equipment to be installed.

"We’ve moved another step closer to delivering our PO/TBA project, with construction taking place simultaneously at two of our sites," said Dan Coombs, LyondellBasell executive vice president for Global Manufacturing, Projects and Refining. "This project creates a long-term value for our investors and we remain on track to bring our largest PO/TBA facility in the world online in 2021."

The first pieces of structural steel are being safely installed at both construction sites, and installation of tanks, cooling towers and the flare will begin soon at the Channelview site.

"As our infrastructure work wraps up, we’ll soon begin to see the plants emerge from both construction sites as these large pieces of equipment are installed," said Joe Dorsch, PO/TBA project director. "We are one year into construction and our team has safely achieved several key milestones, which speaks to their talent and dedication."

Once in operation, the PO/TBA plant will produce 1 billion pounds (470,000 metric tons) of PO and 2.2 billion pounds (1 million metric tons) of TBA annually.

Based on an analysis by the Greater Houston Partnership, LyondellBasell’s USD2.4 billion PO/TBA project is estimated to generate more than USD450 million in tax benefits for the county, school district, community college and other local taxing districts over a 10-year period. The total project will create more than 2,200 construction jobs at the peak of construction and 160 permanent positions.

As MRC wrote previously, LyondellBasell has recetnly announced that Hyundai Chemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical, has selected LyondellBasell's Lupotech T process technology for a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers plant to be built in South Korea. The facility, to be built in Daesan, will have 300,000 t/y of capacity. No additional details of the project were available.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

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) -- ExxonMobil and Mosaic Materials said they have entered into an agreement to explore the advancement of breakthrough technology that can remove carbon dioxide from emissions sources, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Mosaic Materials has progressed research on a unique process that uses porous solids, known as metal-organic frameworks, to separate carbon dioxide from air or flue gas. The agreement with ExxonMobil will enable further discussion between the two companies to evaluate opportunities for industrial uses of the technology at scale.

"New technologies in carbon capture will be critical enablers for us to meet growing energy demands, while reducing emissions," said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company.

"Our agreement with Mosaic expands our carbon capture technology research portfolio, which is evaluating multiple pathways - including evaluation of carbonate fuel cells and direct air capture to reduce costs and enable large-scale deployment. Adding Mosaic’s approach will allow us to build on their work to evaluate the potential for this technology to have a meaningful impact in reducing carbon dioxide emissions."

"Through this agreement with ExxonMobil, we look to accelerate the pace of our development and demonstrate the business and environmental benefits that our technology can offer," said Thomas McDonald, chief executive officer of Mosaic Materials. "Our proprietary technology allows us to separate carbon dioxide from nearly any gas mixture using moderate temperature and pressure changes, substantially increasing energy efficiency and decreasing costs."

Mosaic Materials’ agreement with ExxonMobil is part of Mosaic’s commitment to accelerate the impact of its innovative, low-cost technology, and is Mosaic’s latest direct engagement with companies across a range of industries to demonstrate both the cost reductions and the environmental benefits of employing Mosaic’s solutions.

This engagement builds upon ExxonMobil’s extensive portfolio - in collaboration with startups, academia and governments - to develop next-generation energy technologies that improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ExxonMobil supports Cyclotron Road, a fellowship for entrepreneurial scientists that is managed in partnership between Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Activate, an independent nonprofit.

ExxonMobil also recently announced a 10-year, up to USD100 million agreement to research and develop advanced lower-emissions technologies with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory.

For more than 30 years, ExxonMobil engineers and scientists have researched, developed and applied technologies that could play a role in the widespread deployment of carbon capture and storage. With a working interest in approximately one-fifth of the world’s total carbon capture capacity, ExxonMobil has been able to capture about 7 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide and has cumulatively captured more of it than any other company since 1970.

As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant (UK), which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International, Inc. has announced today it has been awarded a sizeable technology contract from Baltic Chemical Company (BCC) and a sizeable Extended Basic Engineering (EBE) contract from China National Chemical Engineering No. 7 Construction Company Limited (CC7), reported CISION.

The ethane cracking project is owned by Baltic Chemical Complex LLC, a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha.

McDermott's Lummus Technology will provide both the Process Design Package (PDP) Engineering and the license for its olefin production and recovery technology. Lummus Technology's proprietary ethylene steam cracking process is the most widely-applied process for the production of polymer-grade ethylene, representing approximately 40 percent of the world's capacity.

"Lummus Technology has been present in Russia for many years where we have been - and will continue to be reliable partner to our many clients here,'' said Leon de Bruyn, Senior Vice President, Lummus Technology. "We are excited to be selected for two world-scale ethylene plants by BCC and bring our reliable, high-yield and energy-efficient steam cracking technology to a project that has so much visibility in the petrochemicals industry."

The project is the largest ethylene integration project in the world. Located near Russia's shores at the Gulf of Finland, the natural gas processing chemical plant will be comprised of two ethylene cracking facilities, each with an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons.

"McDermott's end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions are an important differentiator for operators in Russia,'' said Tareq Kawash, McDermott's Senior Vice President for Europe, Africa, Russia and Caspian. "The potential future pull-through opportunities related to the Lummus Technology portfolio make us uniquely positioned to execute this phase and future phases of the project."

McDermott has previously partnered with CC7 on the Afipsky Hydrocracker project and the ongoing Lukoil Delayed Coker Unit project.

The extended basic engineering work will primarily be executed from McDermott's downstream Centers of Excellence in The Hague and Brno, Czech Republic.

Work on the project will begin immediately and the contract award will be reflected in McDermott's fourth quarter 2019 backlog.

McDermott's Lummus Technology is a leading licensor of proprietary petrochemicals, refining, gasification and gas processing technologies, and a supplier of proprietary catalysts and related engineering. With a heritage spanning more than 100 years, encompassing approximately 3,400 patents and patent applications, Lummus Technology provides one of the industry's most diversified technology portfolios to the hydrocarbon processing sector.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

McDermott is a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. For more than a century, customers have trusted McDermott to design and build end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions to transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. Our proprietary technologies, integrated expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. Customers rely on McDermott to deliver certainty to the most complex projects, from concept to commissioning. It is called the "One McDermott Way." Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 32,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell announced that Hyundai Chemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical, has selected LyondellBasell's Lupotech T process technology for a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers plant to be built in South Korea, according Apic-online.

The facility, to be built in Daesan, will have 300,000 t/y of capacity. No additional details of the project were available.

"Proven safety features based on decades of experience in high-pressure application design make Lupotech T the technology of choice for LDPE plant operators," LyondellBasell noted. "High conversion rates and effective process heat integration are key attributes of the . . . process and contribute to a sustainable growth of the LDPE and EVA markets."

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2018, Yantai Wanhua Chemical Group has selected technology from LyondellBasell for a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant and polypropylene (PP) unit in Yantai City, Shandong Province. The complex will include a 350,000-t/y HDPE plant, based on LyondellBasell's Hostalen ACP process technology, and a 300,000-t/y PP unit, which will utilize LyondelBasell's 5th generation Spheripol PP process technology. Cost of the project and a schedule were not given.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased.

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) -- Zhejiang Hengli Petrochemical is ready to launch its Phase II PP plant by end of November 2019, completing both phases of the newly constructed petrochemical complex, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The Phase II PP unit has an annual capacity of 400,000 tons/year and would rely on spot propylene for the trial period while waiting for the new PDH unit to come online.

Hengli started up the 450,000 tons/year Phase I PP plant in May 2019 and at the moment, spot cargoes from this unit are widely available in the domestic ground. The producer is also offering BOPP cargoes to the Indonesia market, sources said.

As MRC informed before, in May 2018, INVISTA’s technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (IPT), and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co.,Ltd. (Hengli) reached an agreement to license INVISTA’s latest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) process technology for Hengli’s fourth PTA line. Hengli’s first three PTA lines, the first of which began operation in 2012, also utilize INVISTA’s technology and have a combined capacity of 6.6 million metric tonnes per year. The fourth line will have a design capacity of 2.5 million metric tonnes per year and will be installed at Changxing Island, Liaoning Province of China.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC