MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Cepsa EUR60m to develop a petrochemical sustainability reserach and development (R&D) initiative, said the company.
This investment will be used to install a technology system created by Cepsa and to create a specialised technology company called Universal Oil Products to produce linear alkylbenzene (LAB).
The EIB-financed investment will be used to install the Detal system, a state-of-the-art technology created by Cepsa and specialised technology company UOP (Universal Oil Products) to produce linear alkylbenzene (LAB), the most commonly used raw material for the production of biodegradable detergents internationally. This technology improves the efficiency of the manufacturing process and cuts CO2 emissions and water and electricity use. It also optimises the production process as it both reduces waste and enables much of it to be reused. Lastly, this technology delivers major safety improvements.
The EIB will monitor the implementation of this project, which Cepsa plans to complete in mid-2020, as part of its goal to move towards a more efficient and sustainable productive model.
The agreement was made possible by the Investment Plan for Europe, which enables the EIB to support investments fostering innovation, economic growth and employment. During the implementation phase, Cepsa estimates that this project will create around 250 (mostly local) jobs, peaking at 400 jobs, and will help to safeguard Cepsa's 3 600 direct and 2 600 indirect positions in Andalusia.
LAB is the most common raw material used to produce biodegradable detergents and cuts emissions as less water and electricity is used, while in the production stage waste is reduced and much of it can be reused.
Cepsa anticipates that the project will be completed by mid-2020.
The grant – signed in Madrid by EIB vice president Emma Navarro and Cepsa's CEO Philippe Boisseau – was provided as part of the Investment Plan for Europe, which enables the EIB to support investments fostering innovation, economic growth, and employment.
Phenol is the main raw material component for the production of bisphenol A (BPA), which, in turn, is used to produce polycarbonate (PC).
As MRC informed earlier, Cepsa Quimica (Shanghai), a joint venture between Spanish petrochemical company CEPSA and Japanese Sumitomo Corp, resumed production at a phenol and acetone plant in Shanghai (Shanghai, China) on December 16. This enterprise with a capacity of 250 thousand tons of phenol and 150 thousand tons of acetone per year was closed on December 10 due to repair work on the gas pipeline in Shanghai Caojing Chemical Industry Park, where this plant is located.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to\\from Belarus) fell in January-November 2019 by 14% year on year to 70,700 tonnes (62,000 tonnes a year earlier).
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