KBR and SK Innovation announced startup of Advanced Catalytic Olefins demo plant

(Plastemart) -- KBR and SK Innovation have announced the startup of their Advanced Catalytic Olefins (ACO) demo plant in Ulsan, South Korea. Operations to date have met the companies' expectations for high olefins production, particularly propylene, with improved economics relative to steam cracking due to the technology's higher total olefins yields and increased propylene/ethylene ratios approaching 1.0. The startup marks the first commercial demonstration of ACO.

The demonstration unit achieved design feed rate as scheduled in late October 2010. The ACO process provides a highly attractive alternative to naphtha steam crackers and in addition to offering higher olefins production, the process also produces a lower emissions footprint than a conventional cracker. The keys to this novel technology are the development of a proprietary catalyst and optimization of operating conditions by SK Innovation coupled with the know-how of KBR in the design of fluid bed reactors and the production of polymer grade ethylene and propylene.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Samsung Engineering has officially signed a contract for a US$411 mln chlor-alkali plant with Dow-Mitsui Chlor-Alkali LLC, a joint-venture comprised of Dow Chemical (USA) and Mitsui (Japan). The chlor-alkali plant, to be located in Freeport, Texas, will produce 816,000 tpa of chlorine - becoming the world's largest chlorine production facility. The lump-sum turn-key contract is for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services and is scheduled for mechanical completion by January 2013. The EPC contract is significant because Samsung Engineering is the first Korean contractor to enter the US plant market through competitive bidding.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- A blast has been reported at a petrochemical site in Fos-Lavera of Compagnie Petrochimique de Berre, a unit of U.S. group LyondellBasell. The aftermath of the explosion and an ensuing spill of oil products have now been brought under control, as per Reuters However, traffic at the nearby oil terminal has not been affected. A spokeswoman at LyondellBasell said a fire started in a trench on the site of Compagnie Petrochimique de Berre and that an investigation was being carried out to find out what caused the blast.

MRC

(Sabic) -- SABIC Innovative Plastics has won an award in Aviation Week's first annual Suppliers' Innovation Challenge competition, recognizing new and recent technology developments by tiered suppliers in the aerospace and defense industry. The company's lightweight, rigid Ultem polyetherimide (PEI) foam, used as the structural core in multi-layer systems for aviation interior components, won the Composites category. According to Aviation Week, winners ⌠represent the best-in-class, potential game-changing innovations. This achievement illustrates SABIC Innovative Plastics' strong focus on partnering with aviation industry OEMs to help them succeed by meeting tough safety, regulatory, sustainability and economic requirements.

MRC

(PRW) -- Lanxess is continuing the expansion of its Indian production site in Jhagadia, Gujarat state, where the company broke ground for a new compounding facility with an initial capacity of 20,000 metric tons per year.

The plant will start producing the high-tech plastics Durethan (polyamide) and Pocan (polybutylene terephthalate) at the beginning of 2012. The investment of more than ┬10m will create 60 jobs.

India is on course to become the third largest consumer market for high-tech plastics after the US and China, driven by the automotive industry that is set to grow by more than 6% a year.

Global automakers, as well as their suppliers, are already active in India or are investing in new plants in the subcontinent.

MRC