MOSCOW (MRC) -- Scientists of the Rosneft United Research and Development Centre have developed an innovative technology for processing acetone produced by Rosneft’s enterprises into isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol), a high-margin product that is now mainly imported in Russia, said the company.
The technology includes hydrogenation of acetone with the Company’s own heterogeneous metal-containing catalyst, obtained from raw materials available in the country. Technological potential development is one of the key items of the Rosneft-2022 Strategy. The Company pays special attention to innovation and breakthroughs, recognising the technological leadership as an essential element for competitive performance on the oil market.
The isopropanol will be used as an anti-icing agent in the production of the high-quality, odourless (as opposed to propylene-based isopropanol), frost-free car windscreen wiper fluid for the Company’s retail network. Isopropanol is also a component of solvents, reagents and a number of cosmetic products. Furthermore, it is the basis for highly effective antiseptics designed to combat the spread of infections, which is why the demand for isopropanol in Russia and worldwide is expected to grow significantly.
An industrial-grade acetone-to-isopropanol unit and in-house isopropanol-based windscreen wiper unit are to be constructed at Rosneft’s Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company that has the relevant petrochemical profile.
As MRC informed earlier, Rosneft United Research and Development Centre, the institute of the corporate R&D complex of Rosneft Oil Company, has developed a laboratory unit for synthetic crude oil. The unit, which completed a synthetic oil production run, is capable of converting methane to synthetic liquid hydrocarbons. Rosneft said its technology for obtaining synthetic oil from associated petroleum gas has undergone a series of expert reviews, including international ones, and has been assessed as advanced process solution.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC