UPM selects Brenntag as sole European distributor of its new bio-based MEG

UPM Biochemicals announced on 28 Sep 2023 that it has selected Brenntag SE, the global market leader in chemicals and ingredients distribution, as sole distributor of its sustainable bio-monoethylene glycol (BioMEG) UPM BioPura in Europe, said the company.

The new distribution agreement will bring UPM BioPura to market, unlocking further commercial opportunities, while accelerating the introduction of sustainable forest-sourced materials into the chemical sector. UPM invests EUR 1180 M to build the world's first industrial scale biorefinery in Leuna, Germany, where sustainably sourced, certified hardwood will be converted into next generation biochemicals that will enable the vital shift away from fossil-based to renewable materials across a wide range of industries.

The Leuna biorefinery is part of a broader growth area, UPM Biorefining, focused on scaling refineries producing a variety of renewable fuels and chemicals made from sustainable biomass. UPM has already signed multiple distribution agreements in the past year to market UPM BioMotion Renewable Functional Fillers (RFF), another product within the innovative new category of bio-based products.

UPM BioPura will be produced from certified hardwood obtained from regional forests around Leuna. The biomass does not compete with food resources and will provide manufacturers with a viable option to progress towards their net zero targets and significantly reduce their scope 3 emissions by switching effortlessly from fossil-based ingredients to a renewable, drop-in solution.

We remind, UPM Raflatac, a global supplier of self-adhesive paper and film products, will showcase their more sustainable sticky notes products at the Insights-X stationery expo in Nuremberg, Germany on 11-14 October 2023. UPM Raflatac will be participating in the expo under the Global Notes by UPM Raflatac brand name after acquiring the AMC AG and the Global Notes brand in 2022.

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thyssenkrupp Uhde has been engaged by Hive Energy Limited to deliver a pre-FEED to support the development of Hive’s first green hydrogen / ammonia production plant in Spain, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The pre-FEED was awarded following a comprehensive techno-economic study for the power-to-ammonia facility, which was performed in 2022 using thyssenkrupp Uhde’s proprietary RHAMFS methodology.

The key goal of the pre-FEED is to enhance the technical concept and commence key engineering activities for the plant. thyssenkrupp Uhde will base the pre-FEED on its dynamic uhde ammonia synthesis technology, which has been specifically developed to tackle the unique challenges of dynamic ammonia production and will also provide integration engineering for the process facility. The pre-FEED will allow Hive Energy to advance through the subsequent commercial and regulatory phases of the project development.

Dr. Cord Landsmann, CEO thyssenkrupp Uhde, said: “We at thyssenkrupp Uhde are making a significant contribution to the green transformation. With our technologies and new partnerships like this one with Hive Energy Limited, we are building a sound business case for this groundbreaking green energy project. This marks another important step towards the sustainable and climate-friendly production of green ammonia.”

Shirvine Zhang, Head of Hydrogen and Hybrid Energy at Hive Energy Limited, commented: “Hive’s mission is to implement sustainable and clean technologies to mitigate the impact of climate change. We look forward to progressing this project with world-class and equally climate-minded companies, like thyssenkrupp Uhde, to support the energy transition.”

We remind, Ras Laffan Petrochemicals, a joint venture company owned 30% by Chevron Phillips Chemical and 70% by QatarEnergy, announced that it has secured USD4.4 billion to finance an integrated polymers facility to be located in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, said the company. The project financing comprises commercial and Islamic lenders and a group of export credit agencies.

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Beverage company Coca-Cola India has announced the launch of 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET)-made bottles in the carbonated beverage category, said the company.

The rPET bottles for Coca Cola have been introduced in two different sizes – 250ml and 750ml. Both the packs are being manufactured by Coca-Cola bottling partners Moon Beverages and SLMG Beverages.

Excluding the caps and labels, the new bottles are entirely made using 100% food-grade rPET material.

Moon Beverages chairman Sanjeev Agarwal said: “Our new bottles made with food-grade rPET are recyclable and can become another bottle, giving it another life. Recycled PET is a big move in the right direction to embrace plastic circularity in India.”

According to Coca-Cola India, the process of recycling plastic for manufacturing these bottles is in compliance with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) standards for food-grade recycled material.

We remind, Coca-Cola system in Romania, formed by the companies Coca?Cola Romania and Coca?Cola HBC Romania, has installed a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) flake decontamination unit at its factory in Ploiesti, which will give it the ability to produce recycled PET (R-PET) food-grade pellet.

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BASF is the first company to produce metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on a production scale of several hundred tons per year, said the company.

MOFs are highly crystalline structures with nanometer-sized pores and a large surface area. This structure offers a high capacity for the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2), the dehumidification of air for room climate control, and the adsorption of the greenhouse gas methane. BASF has developed expertise on the scale-up and production of MOFs, can tailor MOFs to customers’ needs and specifications, and today has the capacity to produce customized MOFs for various applications and industries.

A first project has now been successfully completed for Canadian carbon capture and removal solutions provider Svante Technologies Inc. (Svante). The interdisciplinary BASF team of researchers, scale-up experts and engineers worked collaboratively on the scale-up by converting the Svante lab recipe into a safe plant procedure for large scale production. The MOFs produced will be used as solid sorbents for carbon capture projects. The collaboration with Svante will help to significantly reduce carbon emissions in various industrial sectors including hydrogen, pulp and paper, cement, steel, aluminum and chemicals.

“We are very happy to partner with Svante and to be able to apply our scale-up and production expertise. We are proud to be the first company to produce MOFs successfully on a large commercial scale for carbon capture. The successful effort of our teams in R&D, scale-up and production puts us in a favorable position. Today, we have access to new business opportunities with a strong focus on sustainability based on our MOF production capabilities. MOFs have the potential to be a step change in our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and can bring our partners and their customers closer to reaching their net zero targets,” said Detlef Ruff, Senior Vice President, Process Catalysts at BASF.

We remind, BASF is to produce cathode active materials (CAM) from recycled metals in Battle Creek, Michigan, for use in lithium-ion batteries produced by Nanotech Energy. The two companies will partner with American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), a lithium-ion battery recycling company, and TODA Advanced Materials, which has experience in producing specialised CAM precursor and metal hydroxide.

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Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex expects to process 1.16 million barrels of crude oil per day by the end of 2023, CEO Octavio Romero said on Monday, a goal which would represent significant growth from current refining levels, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Romero said in congressional testimony that the upbeat forecast includes expected processing from the firm's six domestic refineries, its new Olmeca refinery once it comes online, plus the Houston-based Deer Park facility. He said that Pemex's crude processing would grow to 1.61 million barrels per day in 2024.

Refining more motor fuels at home has been a major policy goal of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has dedicated large streams of public spending into Pemex's refining operations, which have historically been the company's biggest source of losses.

Lopez Obrador has argued that oil-producing Mexico should not depend on foreign suppliers for its gasoline and diesel needs.

In August, crude oil processing at Pemex's domestic refineries stood at about 797,000 barrels per day, down from last year's 816,000 bpd average.

We remind, Pemex’s production of aromatics, ethane, propylene, and sulphur fell in the first quarter, year on year, but methane output rose strongly. The rise in production of methane and its derivatives helped overall petrochemicals production to remain mostly flat, with 319,000 tonnes produced during the first quarter, down by 0.62% year on year.

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