MOSCOW (MRC) -- West Virginia Methanol has selected a site in Pleasants County in northern West Virginia, USA for a USD350 million methanol plant, according to Kemicalinfo with reference to Washington Times.
The plant will produce 900 metric tons per day of high-purity methanol from natural gas in the Appalachian Basin.
West Virginia Methanol, with headquarters in Charleston, West Virginia, is working on permitting and final design details.
It expects to make a final investment decision on the project near Parkersburg, West Virginia, in the first half of 2021. Operations could begin as early as mid-2023, officials said.
The company said it will use a technology developed by Haldor Topsoe to produce methanol in three units at the plant.
The plant site has access to roads, railroad and river transportation and is near a major natural gas pipeline. Other required utilities are on site or nearby, the statement said.
Methanol is used in chemical industry production and is a mainstay in the automotive industry as a fuel blend. Its diverse use also includes the making of plastics and plywood.
As MRC reported earlier, in late April, 2020, the first phase of Connell Chemical Industry Ltd.'s 600 KTA MTO complex, a 300 KTA MTO plant, successfully started up and produced on-spec ethylene and propylene. This project is the first large-size chemical project brought online during period when China was in the process of restarting the economy while fighting COVID-19 pandemic. The MTO plant started feed-in at 8:18 AM on April 15, produced on-spec propylene at 7:00 AM on April 18, and produced on-spec ethylene at 4:00 AM on April 20.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC