Borouge moves to start-up activities on 3rd phase expansion in Ruwais

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abu Dhabi Polymers Co. (Borouge), a joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Borealis, is undergoing start-up activities on its USD 4.5-billion third phase expansion in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, as per GV.

Borealis, in announcing its financial results for 2013, said the cracker is scheduled to begin production "at the end of the first quarter of 2014." The 1.5-million t/y cracker will complement Borouge’s existing 600,000-t/y and a 1.5-million-t/y crackers at the Ruwais site.

The third phase expansion project, which had initially been scheduled to come on stream during 2013, will also increase the venture’s polyolefins capacity to 4.5-million t/y from 2-million t/y. The additional capacity includes two Borstar enhanced polyethylene (PE) plants having a combined capacity of 1.08-million t/y, a 350,000-t/y low-density PE plant and two Borstar enhanced polypropylene plants with a total of 960,000 t/y of capacity.

As MRC informed previously, in January 2014, Honeywell was awarded four contracts worth a combined USD40 million over an 18-month duration for the Abu Dhabi Polymer Company’s Borouge 3 petrochemicals complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. Honeywell will be the main automation contractor (MAC) for this project, providing Linde and other engineering, procurement and construction (EPCs) contractors involved in the project with integrated control and safety systems.

Honeywell’s technologies have previously been implemented in the Borouge 1 project in 1999 and the Borouge 2 project in 2010, and will continue to help Borouge meet its goal of expanding capacity of the plant, making it the largest integrated polyolefins site in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, is launching its first range of liquid thermoplastic resins under the brand Elium, which is transformed using the same processes as composite thermosets, said the producer in its press-release.

The exciting new technology won an award in 2013 at JEC and is being used in 2014 because it is lightweight, cost-effective and recyclable. Elium resins polymerize quickly and can be used to design structural parts as well as aesthetic elements in a number of applications anywhere from the automotive and transportation industries to wind power, athletic equipment and the building sector.

Elium is it an easy resin to use for lightweight and resilient composite parts. Composite parts made from Elium are 30-50% lighter than the same parts made from steel, but offer the same resistance. When combined with Arkema Luperox peroxide initiators, Elium can be molded into complex design forms for composite parts and perfectly blends with glass or carbon fibers. As a bonus, it is also compatible with conventional thermosetting resin transformation technologies, which cuts down the costs of transformers.

In addition to the Elium range, Arkema is developing a polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) called Kepstan to replace metal in extreme conditions (offshore, aviation), the Rilsan range, a high-performance powdered or granulated polyamide that is 100% bio-sourced and makes thermoset composites resistant to abrasion and shock at very high or low temperatures.

As MRC wrote before, Arkema officially started its new 60,000 MTY emulsion polymers facility on its Changshu platform. The plant, part of Arkema’s Coating Resins business unit, will serve customers in the Asia Pacific region with a full line of waterborne emulsion polymers for coatings and adhesives applications.

Arkema is a global industrial and speciality chemical company made up of three business segments; Vinyl Products, Industrial Chemicals and Performance Products. It is present in over 40 countries with 14,000 employees and sales of more than EUR6bn.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay has launched the production of torrefied biomass at an industrial scale in the United States, creating a new business that aims to provide an innovative and renewable energy solution, said the producer in its press-release.

This business will be run by the recently created Solvay Biomass Energy joint venture between Solvay and U.S. company New Biomass Energy (NBE).

Torrefied biomass, which handles and burns similarly to coal, is produced through torrefaction, a process that modifies the chemical properties of waste wood and biomass. Torrefied biomass can immediately and practically substitute coal, enabling power plants to generate clean energy.

Today, some power plants in Europe use traditional wood pellets to replace coal. Torrefied biomass, however, contains 35% more energy by weight than wood pellets, which also yields significant logistical benefits to customers. Moreover, Solvay is improving the water repellent properties of torrefied biomass to further enhance its storage and handling properties.

Torrefied biomass is produced in Quitman, Mississippi at a plant that was built and developed by NBE. Solvay will provide its industrial expertise to more than triple annual production capacity to 250,000 tons by the end of 2014 from 80,000 tons currently. Solvay Biomass Energy will use by-products, such as sawmill residues, from the highly developed timber industry in the area’s managed forests.

Solvay Biomass Energy, majority-owned by Solvay’s business unit Solvay Energy Services, is in charge of the plant’s operations and maintenance, feedstock sourcing, logistics and technology as well as of the product’s marketing mainly to energy producers in Europe and Asia.

As MRC wrote before, Chemical firms Solvay and INEOS said they have submitted a revised package of concessions to win European Union clearance for a planned joint venture that would create one of the world's largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics companies.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers – fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has completed the expansion of its Industrial Coatings site in Songjiang near Shanghai in China, doubling annual production capacity and creating the company’s biggest plant for packaging coatings in the world, said the producer in its press-release.

Work started in 2012, when around EUR14 million was invested in the facility to add production lines for packaging coatings and epoxy and polyester resins. Now the largest site of its kind in the region, Songjiang will serve growing consumer demand from a number of key markets.

"China remains one of our most important growth markets," explained Conrad Keijzer, member of AkzoNobel’s Executive Committee responsible for Performance Coatings. "By expanding capacity at our Songjiang site, we are well positioned to capture the ongoing demand from consumer and construction markets."

Added AB Ghosh, Managing Director of AkzoNobel’s Industrial Coatings business: "We are very pleased to have started commercial production at the expanded Songjiang site. The extended capabilities and new product lines will not only help us to better serve customers in the country, but will also allow us to supply resins for our own local production of coil and packaging coatings."

The Songjiang facility employs close to 300 people and houses AkzoNobel’s largest research and development center in China. The company is also expanding its activities in other parts of the country, with work ongoing at sites for Powder Coatings and Decorative Paints in Chengdu, a combined investment of EUR50 million in one of the fastest growing regions in China. In addition, a new regional office for western China is being inaugurated in Chengdu this week, which will house employees from several coatings businesses.

AkzoNobel currently employs more than 7,400 people in China, including 500 in research and development. In 2013, the company generated revenues of EUR1.6 billion, the majority coming from local demand.

As MRC wrote before, AkzoNobel completed the sale of its Primary Amides chemicals business to PMC Group effective December 31, 2013. Primary Amides products are used primarily in the polymer industry to create plastics bags and plastic films for packaging.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taekwang Industrial is in plans to shut a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is planned to be shut on March 10, 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 10 days.

Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 1 million mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, China based company Xianglu Petrochemical started up its new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in end-November 2013. Located in Xiamen, China, the plant has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

Besides, China American Petrochemical Co (Capco) restarted its No.6 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Taiwan in late January 2014. It was shut on January 4, 2014 for a maintenance turnaround. Located in Taichung, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 700,000 mt/year.
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