Big West Oil selected Honeywell to revamp alkylation unit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell UOP announced today that Big West Oil has selected ISOALKY technology to produce high-quality alkylate used to make clean-burning motor fuels at its Salt Lake City refinery, said the company.

The refiner is the second in North America to revamp its existing hydrofluoric acid (HF) unit to ISOALKY. This announcement follows the commercialization of the technology by neighboring Chevron at its Salt Lake City Refinery earlier this year.

"We are pleased to announce that Big West Oil has selected the ISOALKY technology for our North Salt Lake refinery," said Mike Swanson, President – Refining Division of Big West Oil. "We chose ISOALKY after assessing its key advantages over conventional alkylation technologies. The project will improve operational efficiency at the refinery and represents a key component of our Tier III solution in delivering lower sulfur gasoline to the Utah market."

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.

"ISOALKY technology is quickly becoming the preferred solution to meet the rising demand for cleaner-burning fuels, without the complex handling requirements and environmental risks of conventional liquid acid technologies,” said Laura Leonard, vice president and general manager, Honeywell UOP Process Technologies. “Big West Oil chose ISOALKY because they saw the benefits of this groundbreaking technology, which marries Chevron’s operational experience with UOP’s decades of experience in licensing and designing over 200 alkylation process units."

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 with a simple process, eliminating the need for road or marine transportation for offsite regeneration and polymer byproduct handling.

As MRC reported earlier, in May, 2020, Honeywell announced that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology in its second propane dehydrogenation plant, called "PDH 2". Located near Mont Belvieu, Texas, PDH 2 will produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene as part of Enterprise’s expansion of propylene manufacturing capacity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

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) -- Northern Petrochemical Company (NPC) announced a plan to build a carbon-neutral ammonia and methanol production facility located within Alberta's Greenview Industrial Gateway, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The complex is set to begin development in spring 2023 and conclude in fall 2026. According to Geoff Bury, president and CEO of NPC, the natural gas facility will use CCUS to produce up to 200 tons of blue methanol and blue hydrogen per year that can be converted to ammonia.

"When we were trying to decide where we were going to put this facility, we looked around the world, various different international jurisdictions, and we landed on Alberta to a large degree because of the Alberta government's support for the petrochemical industry," Bury said, adding there were other key local advantages, including access to natural gas, water and rail lines.

As per MRC, Topsoe will validate its electrified technology for cost-competitive production of sustainable Methanol from biogas as well as other sustainable products. The global annual production of methanol is around 110 MM tons. With close to 1.4 ton CO2 being emitted per produced ton methanol, the emission reduction potential – and hereof the positive societal impact – is enormous, assuming all methanol is being produced by means of a carbon neutral process and sustainable feedstock, leaving a significant positive societal impact.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Worley has been awarded a services contract by Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a subsidiary of Occidental, for a facility in British Columbia, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It’s being designed to produce renewable fuels by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using Carbon Engineering’s Direct Air Capture and AIR TO FUELS technologies.

The facility is expected to produce up to 100 MM liters of ultra-low carbon fuel annually. It’s being developed by OLCV and Squamish Huron Clean Energy Corporation and is expected to be the first commercial-scale project of its kind.

When built, the low-carbon fuels are expected to provide a new option for hard-to-decarbonize industries such as marine, air, rail and truck transportation. This will give transporters the option to reduce their fleets’ carbon dioxide footprint without modifying their vehicles.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2021, Worley was selected to provide detailed design and procurement services to support the development of a low-carbon fuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam in the Netherlands, formerly known as the Pernis refinery. Once built, it’s expected to be one of the biggest of its kind in Europe.

The facility will produce 820,000 tons of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel every year. These fuels will be produced from waste including used cooking oil, certified sustainable vegetable oils, waste animal fat and other industrial and agricultural residue using advanced technology developed by Shell. They will be used for blending in support of the EU legislation and commitments under the Paris Agreement.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant has collaborated with Technip Energies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from hydrogen production through its steam methane reforming process, said the company.

Stefan Heuser, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Clariant Catalysts, explained the urgent need for the new technology, stating, “Producing hydrogen from hydrocarbons calls for reducing the CO2 footprint. With EARTH technology, we can make a huge difference by significantly reducing the CO2 footprint of the steam reformer. Moreover, EARTH will not only help producers meet their sustainability targets, but will also greatly improve the productivity and efficiency of their plants."

Stan Knez, Chief Technology Officer at Technip Energies added, “We are very excited to present EARTH in collaboration with our catalyst partner Clariant. It is a key technology of our BlueH2 by T.EN®suite of solutions to achieve more sustainable hydrogen and syngas production the market has been seeking. We look forward to furthering outstanding performance results."

The EARTH system is designed as a drop-in solution, thus it is well suited to both existing and new reformer tubes. It is already in operation in the Akkim hydrogen (HyCO) plant since January 2019 and shows excellent and stable performance. Results to date are outstanding: 20% less CO2 emissions and nearly 40% lower fossil fuel consumption– all at equal hydrogen and CO output.

Clariant and Technip Energies have also been awarded two further contracts for EARTH. In the first of them, Repsol has selected the technology for a 21,000 Nm3/h hydrogen plant in Cartagena, Spain. Scheduled to start up in February 2023, the plant will use multiple feed sources, including natural gas and H2 rich off-gases, as feedstock.

The second assignment is for an upgrade of an existing European hydrogen plant. At either site, the expected results are the same: considerable environmental and economic benefits.

EARTH technology, developed and patented by Technip Energies, comprises a concentric tubular assembly in the steam methane reformer with a structured catalyst loaded in the outer annular space. The setup ensures simultaneously heat recuperation and high conversion rates. The technology uses a newly designed structured catalyst, jointly developed by Clariant and Technip Energies, which offers, next to low pressure drop, maximum activity, and heat transfer. Due to its outstanding stability and mechanical robustness, the catalyst can deliver excellent performance despite the thermal and mechanical stress of the reforming process and the reduced volume of the EARTH catalyst bed.

It has been awarded a further two contracts – by Repsol at a 21,000 Nm3/h (normal cubic metre/hour) hydrogen plant in Cartagena, Spain, scheduled for start-up in February 2023, using natural gas and H2 rich off-gases as feedstock, and in an upgrade of an existing European site.

As per MRC, Clariant says that its board has appointed Conrad Keijzer as the company’s new CEO, effective 1 January 2021. Hariolf Kottmann, Clariant’s executive chairman ad interim, will return to his position as chairman of the board, once Keijzer assumes responsibility.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Stronger fuel demand has boosted profits at crude oil refineries across Asia in recent weeks, but they have also been given a helping hand by lower exports of refined products from regional heavyweight China, reported Reuters.

China's exports of refined fuels dropped in October to 3.95 MM tons, snuffing out what was a slight rise in shipments in September and reverting to the declining trend seen since April.

The past four months have been the weakest for fuel exports from China since a slump in mid-2020. That was largely the result of plummeting fuel demand across Asia as many countries locked down their economies in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

October's exports of refined products were also nearly a third below the same month in 2020. Although the year-to-date figure is still up 3.8%, this is a reflection of strong exports in the first half of 2021.

There are several reasons for China's decline in fuel exports in the second half of this year - but chief among them is lower refinery utilization as independent refiners exhausted crude import permits and had to cut throughput.

A shortage of power because of constrained coal supplies also impacted refineries, with September processing of 13.64 MM barrels per day (bpd) being the lowest in 16 mos.

The decline in China's refined product exports has coincided with stronger demand in Asia, which has in turn boosted margins at the region's export-oriented refineries, notwithstanding the rally in crude oil prices.

A measure of the profit of turning a barrel of Dubai crude into products at a Singapore refinery stood at USD6.46 a bbl in early Asian trade on Thursday, while the 15-day moving average was at USD7.80.

As recently as June, the profit margin was as low as USD1.37 a bbl for the month. The recent peak of around USD8.44 in late October was the highest since September 2019.

It's perhaps no surprise that refinery margins peaked in October, as Chinese fuel exports were slipping.

There was more good news for refiners in Asia. India's fuel demand rose in October to the highest in seven mos as economic activity recovered in the world's third-biggest oil consumer.

Outside China, there are also encouraging signs of a recovering demand for fuel in Asia. Refinitiv Oil Research forecasts crude imports will rise in November from October in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan - Asia's biggest importers behind China and India.

A ongoing recovery in fuel demand as more countries in Asia fully re-open their economies should help keep refinery margins elevated.

The 'X-factor' is whether Chinese refiners will return to the export market to capture some of the strong margins currently on offer.

As MRC informed earlier, the tight supply situation of natural gas in the global markets is expected to ease to a certain extent in 2022 as production growth is forecast to outpace demand, said Luo Yizhou, vice president of PetroChina International Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of state-owned PetroChina.

We remind that PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas producer,aims to have oil, gas and green energies to each account for a third of its portfolio by 2035, as the Chinese oil major shifts toward a lower-carbon future.

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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
MRC