Braskem expands strategy for the future of renewable chemicals

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem, the largest thermoplastics resins producer in the Americas and the worldwide leader in bio-polymers, has announced its expanded focus on the research, development and commercialization of chemicals and materials sourced from renewable feedstocks, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Braskem started a new operation in Boston focused on leveraging groundbreaking developments in biotechnology and advanced materials.

The activities will include biotechnology and material science R&D, business and market development as well as technology scouting for key strategic partnerships.

Gustavo Sergi, Braskem Renewable Chemicals Business Director, stated, "Renewable chemistry will lead the next wave of development in chemicals and polymers. Our announcement today reinforces Braskem's position at the forefront of this movement. As we look forward, by developing and leading the next wave of renewable chemicals and polymers, we are bringing our customers new and innovative choices."

"The operation in Boston will complement the metabolic engineering capabilities that we have in our Renewable Chemistry Research Center in Campinas (Brazil) as well as our material science competencies present in our R&D centers in Triunfo (Brazil) and Pittsburgh (USA). In addition, this location positions Braskem in a strategic ecosystem that will enable us to leverage key partnerships for research and market development," explains Mateus Schreiner Garcez Lopes, Braskem Head of Innovation in Renewable Technologies.

To lead the R&D initiatives in Boston the company has appointed Dr. Daniel P. MacEachran as new Head of Metabolic Engineering. Dr. MacEachran joins Braskem from Greenlight Biosciences, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company focused on the sustainable production of chemicals, having most recently served as Director of Applications Research & Development. He also served as a Visiting Scientist and Post-Doctoral Researcher to the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As MRC informed previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’ minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevents Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced this year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has announced greenhouse gas reduction measures that are expected to lead to significant improvements in emissions performance by 2020, including a 15 percent decrease in methane emissions and a 25 percent reduction in flaring, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company also announced its intention to improve its industry-leading energy efficiency in refining and chemical manufacturing facilities.

ExxonMobil invests in lower-emission energy solutions such as cogeneration, flare reduction, energy efficiency, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and other technologies. ExxonMobil has spent more than USD9 billion on lower-emission energy solutions since 2000.

"We have a longstanding commitment to improve efficiency and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions," said Darren W. Woods, chairman and chief executive officer. "Today’s announcement builds on that commitment and will help further drive improvements in our business."

ExxonMobil is undertaking a number of initiatives to significantly reduce methane emissions. XTO Energy’s leak-detection-and-repair efforts and operational improvements at U.S. production and midstream sites have reduced estimated methane emissions across ExxonMobil operations by 2 percent in the past year. Combined with additional measures outside the U.S. focused on the most significant sources of methane, ExxonMobil expects to achieve a 15 percent reduction of methane emissions by 2020 compared with 2016.

ExxonMobil is one of eight global energy companies that supports guiding principles on methane reduction. The principles focus on continually reducing methane emissions, advancing strong performance across gas value chains, improving accuracy of methane emissions data and advocating sound policies and regulations on methane emissions. ExxonMobil is a founding member of the API’s Environmental Partnership, which is focused initially on reducing methane and volatile organic compound emissions.

Efforts associated with oil and gas production and processing are expected to lower natural gas flaring across ExxonMobil operations by about 25 percent by 2020 compared with 2016. The most significant reductions are expected to occur in operations in West Africa and include use of third-party infrastructure.

ExxonMobil is a charter member of the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Public-Private Partnership, which is committed to developing commercial opportunities to reduce flaring. The partnership is comprised of oil-producing countries, international and state-owned oil companies and the World Bank.

Further greenhouse-gas emissions reduction efforts will target ExxonMobil’s global refining and chemicals manufacturing network with the goal of improving existing industry-leading energy efficiency performance.

ExxonMobil is the most energy efficient refining company in the U.S. and internationally. The company has achieved a 10 percent improvement in energy efficiency across its global refining operations following an effort launched in 2000. ExxonMobil refining operations ranked in the first quartile for energy efficiency in every Solomon Refining Industry Survey over the past decade. Advanced efficiency technologies and techniques have helped ExxonMobil’s chemical business reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions intensity by nearly 7 percent since 2013.

ExxonMobil remains committed to mitigating emissions from its operations and helping consumers reduce their emissions, including through efficient fuels, lubricants and lightweight plastics.

ExxonMobil continues to support research that leads to technology breakthroughs and participates in constructive dialogue on policy options.

As MRC informed before, in November 2016, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced it received a contract from ExxonMobil Chemical Company to provide engineering, design and construction management services as part of a new 650 kTa polyethylene facility to be located at ExxonMobil’s Beaumont polyethylene plant.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Milliken & Co. plans to showcase its standing as a leading supplier of polyurethane additives, while also rolling out some new offerings at the upcoming UTECH 2018 show, as per the company's press release.

UTECH - to be held May 29-31 in Maastricht, The Netherlands - is the foremost international exhibition and conference for the global polyurethanes industry.

Milliken will display the broad portfolio of existing products it currently offers to the PU industry, including its Reactint colorants, and its Milliguard and AlphaSan additives. At the same time, it will highlight a new range of colorants that deliver brighter, stronger, more intense and more effective shades to PU foam.

The company also will be showcasing its newly released "ColorDirection 2019" - a prediction of the color palette that Milliken experts see emerging in the consumer space next year. "After an extended phase exposed to high-contrast colors, we expect consumer preferences to shift firmly away from the artificial," the company predicts, with 2019 poised to feature honest, authentic colors that are bright yet as real as possible.

Milliken will also display a mattress on its UTECH stand to help demonstrate how its Reactint colorants deliver deep shades across a wide colorspace, while allowing the brand owner to achieve an optimal market differentiation and brand recognition.

Milliguard AOX antioxidant protects polyurethane and other thermoset polymers from oxidation and degradation. Specially designed to support polyol suppliers, polyurethane flexible foamers, mattress converters and other PU producers, it improves the quality and durability of final PU parts by preventing odor-causing degradation byproducts and discoloration caused by exposure to light, heat and NOx. This polymeric additive also helps producers to meet stringent environmental and air quality standards by reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) and outgassing condensation (FOG) emissions.

"Milliken continues to develop technologies that help to improve vehicle interior air quality and meet the newest, most stringent automotive industry requirements," notes Antoni Puig, product line manager, EMEA - PU Colorants & Additives. "The new Milliguard AS aldehyde scavenger additive complements our existing Milliguard AOX technology in reducing the generation of aldehydes in PU foam."

Milliguard UVX UV absorbers protect PU from yellowing and degradation caused by exposure to UV light. Supplied in liquid form for easy handling and metering, they help PU producers and converters to deliver fresh, long-lasting PU products with lower VOC and FOG emissions. These UV absorbers, reactive in nature, are widely used in PU for furniture and bedding, building insulation and automotive applications.

Milliken, meanwhile, also will display its AlphaSan AG additive, which delivers microbial protection through the power of Silver, and AlphaSan AF, which is a stable dispersion of a highly functional antifungal active ingredient.

As MRC reported previously, at this spring’s Hispack 2018 trade fair in Spain, Milliken Chemical showcased containers of NX UltraClear polypropylene made using its Millad NX 8000 clarifier, and highlighting why that material is the preferred solution for packaging.

Milliken is an innovation company that has been exploring, discovering, and creating ways to enhance people’s lives since 1865. The company creates coatings, specialty chemicals, and advanced additive and colorant technologies that transform the way we experience products from automotive plastics to children's art supplies.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. has recently announced the successful completion of the ethylene plant revamp project for Korea Petrochemical Ind. Co., Ltd (KPIC) in Ulsan, Korea, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR provided its proprietary Selective Cracking Optimum Recovery (SCORETM) technology license, basic engineering design and proprietary equipment supply services to expand KPIC's existing plant ethylene capacity from 486 KTA to 800 KTA. The revamp included the addition of two new highly selective SC-1 proprietary furnaces and targeted product recovery system modifications to provide superior yield, energy and operational performance.

"KBR is honored that KPIC selected KBR's SCORETM Ethylene Technology for this strategic revamp project," said John Derbyshire KBR President, Technology. "The close cooperation between our teams resulting in the successful completion of this project is a testament to KPIC's One Project - One Team spirit."

KBR has been a leader in olefin plant design, construction and technology development for more than 50 years. Since 1990, over 20 new ethylene plants with a combined capacity of 13 million metric tons per year have been brought on-stream using KBR's cost-effective, cracking technologies and flexible plant designs to produce ethylene, propylene and other byproducts from a variety of feedstocks. SCORETM technology is an innovative and differentiated technology backed by extensive ethylene operating experience that improves operability and reliability while reducing production costs.

As MRC wrote before, in July 2015, KPIC awarded GS Engineering & Construction a USD270-million contract to increase ethylene capacity to 800,000 t/y and aromatics capacity to 300,000 t/y from 220,000 t/y currently. The project also includes the capacity to produce 150,000 t/y of propylene.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom Neft and AI-solutions company Zyfra have concluded a Cooperation Agreement on implementing a new digital initiative, "Digital Plant" (signed by Anatoly Cherner, Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, Gazprom Neft and Igor Bogachev, CEO, Zyfra at this year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum, as per the company's press release.

The "Digital Plant" initiative forms part of a Gazprom Neft project to create Russia’s first holistic digital platform for the production, distribution and sales of oil products. Work in this area has been ongoing at the company since 2017 and envisages the involvement of leading companies in the Russian IT market - of which Zyfra is one.

The Digital Plant pilot project will be established within the company’s Gazpromneft Bitumen Materials subsidiary: the objective of transformation here being to introduce digital monitoring systems for production and quality control.

The core IT framework is expected to be in place by the end of 2018, as well as AI systems monitoring the movements of raw and other materials, together with advanced software packages to optimize economic and material accounting for the enterprise’s balance sheet. Once digitized process data is in place the project will move on to its second phase - developing a system of "digital twins" of production infrastructure facilities, monitoring reliability and process parameters in operating equipment.

(Gazprom Neft and AI-solutions company Zyfra have concluded a Cooperation Agreement on implementing a new digital initiative, “Digital Plant” (signed by Anatoly Cherner, Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, Gazprom Neft and Igor Bogachev, CEO, Zyfra at this year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum.)

This digital platform will integrate, store and process data, providing Gazprom Neft specialists with visualizations of changes in key production parameters. The system will be integrated into the company’s wider IT architecture for logistics, processing and sales, in the longer term.

The implementation of the agreement will be driven by the Gazprom Neft Digital Innovations Centre, established by the company to identify and implement technological solutions in Big Data, predictive management, and creating "digital twins" in production infrastructure.

Anatoly Cherner, Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, Gazprom Neft, commented: "Gazprom Neft continues to strengthen its market leadership in operational efficiency, with recent years having seen us implement dozens of digital projects. Developing an IT platform to manage industrial production is a further step forward in our company’s development. Partnering with Zyfra in creating practical industrial solutions and developing AI technologies opens up new opportunities for improving our business efficiency."

Igor Bogachev, CEO, Zyfra, added: "We see the development of applied functional solutions - a library of 'artificial intelligence' in enterprise management - as both extremely promising and important, and something which could, in future, be available commercially to other companies in the oil and gas industry, and others."

As MRC informed previously, in October 2017, Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft, through its subsidiary Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), started construction of a new deep conversion complex (DCC) at its Pancevo Refinery in Serbia with an investment of over EUR300m. The new complex will be equipped with delayed coking technology. It is anticipated to be ready in 2019 and will help NIS to start production of petroleum coke (pet coke) which is currently not done in the country.
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