Dow Chemical to restart PDH unit in Freeport by July

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical plans to resume operations at its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Freeport, Texas by July, 2021, after the completion of a scheduled turnaroun, reported S&P Global.

This PDH unit with the capacity of 750,000 mt/year of propylene was taken off-stream for maintenance works on 18 May, 2021.

As MRC informed earlier, last year, Dow Chemical conducted a scheduled maintenance at its PDH unit in Freeport. Thus, the planned turnaround started in the week ended July 10 and lasted for 45 days.

And this year, the company shut this unit from 16 February to end-February-early March because of very low temperatures in the region.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant's MegaMax catalyst series for CO2-based methanol production helps China reach its carbon neutrality target, said the company.

Capturing and converting CO2 emissions is a cornerstone of the technology roadmap for addressing climate change. Synthesizing methanol from CO2 is a particularly valuable approach because methanol forms a building block for thousands of chemical products such as plastics, paints, cosmetics, and fuels — including providing an energy storage carrier for hydrogen.

Stefan Heuser, Senior Vice President & General Manager at Clariant Catalysts, commented, "At Clariant, we are firmly committed to continuously improving our own sustainability performance, as well as that of our customers. Our continuous innovations – like CO2-based methanol production enabled by our MegaMax catalyst – will play a key role in helping customers in China and around the world considerably reduce carbon emissions, and achieve critical climate targets."

This product line is designed for methanol producers worldwide and is based on the well-proven copper-zinc-alumina system. The special material composition now outperforms previous generations and benchmarks in carbon efficiency, mechanical stability, and product lifespan.

Clariant's MegaMax catalyst successfully passed a qualification test in the Methanol demonstration unit of Air Liquide's Innovation Campus Frankfurt in Germany. The tests demonstrated a high conversion ratio, with a per-pass CO2 conversion rate of up to 30-40% using H2/CO2 feed. By-product formation was also low and the process achieved high selectivity. Additionally, the catalysts have shown improved stability and low deactivation, permitting an expected long product lifetime.

With the confirmed high energy efficiency and excellent performance, Clariant's MegaMax is officially qualified for future use in commercial CO2-based methanol plants. Clariant has nearly 50 years of experience in methanol catalysts and is a globally renowned catalyst manufacturer. The broad portfolio of full catalytic solutions is designed to meet customers' needs for different scales, processes, and feedstocks.

To help customers reliably achieve their efficiency and emission targets even under flexible conditions, Clariant provides strong engineering service support to work with process partners on solutions for green methanol production and the clean-up of unconventional syngas streams. As part of Clariant's own sustainability targets, Clariant Catalysts is developing next-generation catalysts with even better performance. These solutions will assist in more environmentally friendly methanol production and meet carbon neutrality goals in China and worldwide.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2020, Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland) announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art catalyst production site in China. This project represents a significant investment which further strengthens Clariant’s position in China and enhances its ability to support its customers in the country’s thriving petrochemicals industry.

The new facility will be primarily responsible for producing the Catofin catalyst for propane dehydrogenation, which is used in the production of olefins such as propylene. Thanks to its excellent reliability and productivity, Catofin delivers superior annual production output compared to alternative technologies, resulting in increased overall profitability for propylene producers, says the company. Construction at the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province was scheduled to commence in Q3 2020, and Clariant expects to be at full production capacity by 2022.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayport Polymers LLC (Baystar), a joint venture of France's Total and Austria's Borealis, plans to receive commercial production at its new 1 million mt/year cracker in Texas in the 3rd quarter of 202q, reported S&P Global.

As of 11 June, the new cracker was progressing with its lengthy startup after construction was completed in the first quarter of 2021, according to a flaring notice on a community hotline and sources familiar with company operations.

The Baystar cracker in Port Arthur reported flaring late June 10 to the Southeast Texas Alerting Network, a community hotline intended to alert nearby residents of routing flaring, upsets and other issues affecting petrochemical plants and refineries.

"Operations require flaring," the notice said. Flaring, or burning of excess gases, is routine during plant startups.

The cracker will supply Total and Borealis' joint-venture 400,000 mt/year polyethylene (PE) plant near the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel, and an adjacent 625,000 mt/year PE unit under construction with startup expected in Q1 2022.

The Baystar joint venture, which originally included Canada's NOVA Chemicals, broke ground on the new cracker in 2018, and construction began on the new PE unit in 2019.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

Bayport Polymers LLC (Baystar) was created as a joint venture in 2018 between three established petrochemical industry leaders, Total S.A. (Total), Borealis Holdings LLC and NOVA Chemicals. Borealis bought NOVA's interest in the joint venture in 2020.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has released the final election results of the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders as confirmed by the independent election inspector, as per the company's press release.

The ExxonMobil board of directors will consist of Michael Angelakis, Susan Avery, Angela Braly, Ursula Burns, Kenneth Frazier, Gregory Goff, Kaisa Hietala, Joseph Hooley, Steve Kandarian, Alexander Karsner, Jeffrey Ubben and Darren Woods. Douglas Oberhelman, Sam Palmisano and Wan Zulkiflee will be departing the board.

“Our board looks forward to continuing to work in the best interest of all shareholders,” said Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer. “We welcome our new members and thank our three departing directors for their valuable contributions to the company. Doug and Sam provided guidance and shared their experience with the board over many years. While his time with us was brief, we thank Wan Zul and appreciate his input as we positioned the company to increase shareholder value and participate in the energy transition.”

As MRC informed previously, earlier this month, Gov. John Bel Edwards and ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery Manager David Oldreive announced the company’s final investment decision for more than USD240 million in capital improvements at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Limetree Bay Energy will shut its St. Croix refinery indefinitely due to financial problems, the company said, after a series of operational setbacks shuttered the facility, reported Reuters.

The 210,000-barrel-per-day refinery had only restarted in February after being idle for nearly a decade, but was forced to shut in May after the facility sprayed nearby neighborhoods with a petroleum mist and residents complained of breathing problems.

Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency ordered the plant shut for at least 60 days after those incidents, which also contaminated the community's water supply. The EPA also ordered the plant to install and operate 18 sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide monitors on St. Croix in order to restart.

EIG-backed Limetree has been unable to secure the necessary funding to restart the plant, and will lay off approximately 271 employees effective Sept. 19, the company said.

The refinery will begin preparations for an extended shutdown, including purging gases from all of the units and removing any residual oil and products in the lines.

Earlier this month, Reuters exclusively reported that Arclight Capital, which had a majority stake in the refinery, exited its position and removed the refinery from its portfolio in April after its fund experienced hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

The oil storage terminal will not be affected by the decision to suspend operations.

The refinery restarted in February under private equity ownership. It was designed to profit from an international clean-air marine fuel mandate known as IMO 2020. However, the plant suffered repeated setbacks, including high levels of corrosion in pipes and the decimation of demand by the COVID-19 pandemic. The restart was delayed more than a year and ran more than a billion dollars over budget. Limetree’s chief executive was replaced in November.

We remind that in late March 2021, EPA said it had revoked an expansion permit for the Limetree Bay oil refinery in the US Virgin Islands, citing concerns that the area around the facility is overburdened with pollution. The decision allowed the plant to keep operating but blocked ongoing expansion work pending an EPA review to assess measures the facility needs to take to protect nearby residents.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC