Chevron starts up new salt-based alkylation unit from Honeywell

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corporation and Honeywell announced the commissioning and start-up of the world’s first commercial-scale ISOALKY process unit that utilizes ionic liquids to produce alkylate. The ISOALKY™ technology represents a major innovation in alkylation technology, said the company.

First used in Chevron’s Salt Lake City refinery, the ISOALKY™ technology is designed to meet the refining industry’s needs for a cost-effective alternative to conventional liquid acid systems that offers process safety advantages. Using a non-aqueous liquid salt, or ionic liquid, the revolutionary new catalytic process is handled with standard personal protective equipment and produces a valuable high-octane blending component that helps lower the environmental impact of gasoline. Pioneered by Chevron U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron, and licensed to Honeywell UOP, the technology is offered to the entire industry under the ISOALKY brand name.

Through a partnership with Honeywell UOP, the ISOALKY process unit at Chevron’s refinery in Salt Lake City will be able to meet the growing demand for higher-octane blending components that lower the environmental impact of gasoline.

Through a partnership with Honeywell UOP, the ISOALKY™ process unit at Chevron’s refinery in Salt Lake City will be able to meet the growing demand for higher-octane blending components that lower the environmental impact of gasoline.

ISOALKY™ technology can be used in new refineries as well as in existing facilities undergoing capital expansion or retrofit applications. ISOALKY™ technology has wider and improved feed flexibility relative to conventional alkylation technologies. Ionic liquids are regenerated on-site, eliminating the need for road or marine transportation for offsite regeneration and polymer byproduct handling. More information about ISOALKY™ technology can be found here.

As MRC informed earlier, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) halted production at its cracker in Sweeny (Old Ocean, TX, USA) on February 15 due to cold weather. Extreme cold and instability of power supply and fuel gas supply systems led to shutdowns of existing cracking units No. 22, 24 and 33 and the production of polyethylene (PE). The company's total ethylene production capacity in Sweeney is 1.975 million tonnes per year of ethylene, 165 thousand tonnes of propylene, 500 thousand tonnes of HDPE and 500 thousand tonnes of LDL.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

Honeywell UOP is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions, a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, chemical and other industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announced that its subsidiaries Tecnimont S.p.A. and Tecnimont Arabia Limited have been awarded by Advanced Global Investment Company (AGIC) a package of the Integrated PDH-PP complex project, relating to the realization of two Polypropylene Units on an Engineering Procurement and Construction Lump Sum Turn-Key basis, said the company.

The total contract value is approximately USD 500 million. The project scope of work entails complete engineering services, equipment and out of kingdom material supply (to be performed by Tecnimont) and in kingdom material supply, erection and construction activities up to start up and guarantee test run (to be performed by Tecnimont Arabia Limited). The project completion is expected by the second quarter of 2024.

The two Polypropylene Units will have a capacity of 400,000 tons per year each and will be located inside the Integrated PDH-PP (propane dehydrogenation - polypropylene) complex in Jubail Industrial City II, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

AGIC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Petrochemical Company, a Saudi joint stock company established in 2005 and listed on the Saudi Stock Market since 2006. It manufactures polypropylene products for a range of industries including automotive, consumer product, healthcare, packaging, and textile.

Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are really enthusiastic to start a new valuable relationship with such a prominent client in one of our historical and most strategic markets in the petrochemicals sector. This achievement provides further evidence of Maire Tecnimont Group’s global leadership in polyolefins, its technology-driven approach and distinctive competencies in managing large complex projects. Moreover, this important result represents another significant milestone of our Gas Monetization strategy, enabling us to be geared up for Saudi Arabia’s large wave of investments in downstream."

As per MRC, Advanced Petrochemical Co. announced April 11, 2021, that operations at its polypropylene plant resumed as of March 28, 2021, and operations at its propylene plant restarted as of April 11, 2021, after the completion of scheduled maintenance works.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced that Lotte GS Chemical Corp. will use Honeywell UOP Q-Max, Phenol 3G, and Evonik MSHP technologies to produce more than 565,000 metric tons per year of phenol and acetone at its petrochemicals facility in Yeosu, Korea, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

UOP is providing a license for the technology, in addition to basic engineering design services, key equipment, catalysts and adsorbents and technical services.

As part of the project, UOP will provide a cumene unit and a phenol unit with alpha-methylstyrene (AMS) hydrogenation. The combined technologies will allow Lotte GS Chemical to produce phenol and acetone derivatives from benzene and polymer-grade propylene.

“Global demand for plastics and resins such as polystyrene, styrenic resin, polycarbonate and phenolic resin is driving the need for aromatic derivatives,” said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Process Technologies business. “By increasing the production of phenol and acetone, Lotte raises its market position in high-margin petrochemicals and contributing to the global supply.”

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2021, Honeywell announced that Hengli Petrochemical Co. Ltd. successfully used Callidus burner technology from Honeywell UOP to minimize nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions in China, and reduce the impact of these emissions while ensuring safe and stable operations.

Along with phenol, acetone is largely used to produce bisphenol A (BPA), which, in its turn, is used in the production of plastics such as polycarbonate (PC) and epoxy resins.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall consumption of PC granules (excluding exports from Belarus) totalled 8,100 tonnes in January 2021, up by 20% year on year (6,800 tonnes a year earlier).
MRC

1. US energy-related CO2 emissions down 11% in 2020 mainly due to COVID-19 pandemic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Based on data in EIA’s Monthly Energy Review, energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dropped by 11% in the United States in 2020 primarily because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing. US energy-related CO2 emissions fell in every end-use sector for the first time since 2012. Within the US power sector, emissions from coal declined the most, at 19%. Natural gas-related CO2 rose by 3%. In 2020, as fossil fuel generation declined, generation from renewables continued to grow. Generation from wind and solar together increased by 17% in 2020.



MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were steady to slightly higher in mid-morning trade in Asia April 12 as optimism over an accelerated vaccination drive in Europe and an economic recovery in the US were countered by continuing concerns that any resurgence in coronavirus infections could abruptly curtail demand, reported S&P Global.

At 11:52 am Singapore time (0352 GMT), the ICE Brent June contract was up 4 cents/b (0.06%) from the April 9 settle at USD62.99/b, while the May NYMEX light sweet crude contract was 4 cents/b (0.07%) higher at USD59.36/b.

"The market started the week on a positive note after a tug of war between those feeling optimistic over the US economic recovery and those despairing over the pandemic progression in Europe left Brent stuck around the USD63/b mark last week," Vandana Hari, CEO of Vanda Insights, told S&P Global Platts on April 12.

"The positive sentiment was due to developments over the weekend, with France, Germany and Italy saying that they are ramping up vaccinations and Jerome Powell (US Federal Reserve Chairman) expressing further confidence over US economic growth accelerating," she added.

However Hari noted the market had not found strong upward momentum amid continuing concerns that the coronavirus pandemic could derail the demand recovery for crude oil. "Europe is at the epicenter of (coronavirus-related concerns), with several countries forced to increase restrictions to contain the spread of new variants of the virus," ANZ analysts said in a April 12 note.

As MRC informed earlier, COVID-19 outbreak has led to an unprecedented decline in demand affecting all sections of the Russian economy, which has impacted the demand for petrochemicals in the short-term. However, the pandemic triggered an increase in the demand for polymers in food packaging, and cleaning and hygiene products, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. With Russian petrochemical companies having the advantage of access to low-cost feedstock, and proximity to demand-rich Asian (primarily China) and European markets for the supply of petrochemical products, these companies appear to be well-positioned to derive full benefits from an improving market environment and global economy post-COVID-19, says GlobalData.

We remind that in December 2020, Sibur, Gazprom Neft, and Uzbekneftegaz agreed to cooperate on potential investments in Uzbekistan including a major expansion of Uzbekneftegaz’s existing Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (SGCC) and the proposed construction of a new gas chemicals facility. The signed cooperation agreement for the projects includes “the creation of a gas chemical complex using methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology, and the expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex”.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC