GAIL approves building PP complex using existing LPG facility at Usar

MOSCOW (MRC) -- GAIL (India) Ltd. has approved the revival of an existing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant for conversion into a new polypropylene (PP) complex in Usar, Raigad district of Maharashtra, India, according to Apic-online.

The "first of its kind project in India" will have 500,000 t/y of PP capacity, as well as an integrated propane dehydrogenation unit, at an estimated cost of Rs 8,800 crore, GAIL noted.

The project is scheduled to be commissioned by fiscal year 2023-2024.

As MRC wrote previously, India's state-owned gas utility company GAIL India plans to import ethane from countries including the US, for its upcoming USD5 billion joint-venture Andhra Pradesh petrochemical plant. GAIL is seeking 1.3 million mt/year of ethane for 15 years for its JV ethane cracker with India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), located on the east coast of India beginning 2022, the company said in February 2016.

Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) is the largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. It has the following business segments: natural gas, liquid hydrocarbon, liquefied petroleum gas transmission, petrochemicals, city gas distribution, exploration and production, GAILTEL and electricity generation.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded Bilfinger three separate projects in the first quarter of 2019, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contracts, secured by Bilfinger's Middle East division, involve turnkey installation, replacement and modification services in ADNOC's Ruwais-based refining unit.

Bilfinger, a leading global engineering and industrial services provider with nearly half a century of presence in the UAE, will design, supply and install upgrade solutions related to hydrocracker (HCK) and hydroskimmer (HSK) units. Tie-ins are expected to be carried out during a major turnaround in 2020.

Under a second contract, Bilfinger will provide specialized EPC services for the installation of Bernoulli filters for the HCK unit's seawater network as well as LPG transfer pumps and progressive cavity pumps at the HSK plant.

At the same industrial complex, Bilfinger was also awarded a contract to perform piping modifications for service water and eye shower facilities. The scope involves the replacement of certain lines, with associated civil and structural works for above-ground and underground pipe network systems.

All three projects are expected to be completed in 2020.

Commenting on the triple contract wins, Ali Vezvaei, President & CEO of Bilfinger Middle East said, "We are grateful for ADNOC's continued trust in our capabilities and equally delighted to build upon our long-standing relationship focusing on the optimization of their already world-class downstream operations at the epicenter of the country's hydrocarbons industry in Ruwais."

"It is definitely a great start into 2019 for our team in Abu Dhabi."

As MRC informed before, in early May 2019, McDermott International, Inc. announced it had been awarded a sizeable contract by ADNOC Refining to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the Refinery Offgases (ROG) project at the Ruwais Refinery in Abu Dhabi.

Bilfinger is a leading international industrial services provider. The Group enhances the efficiency of assets, ensures a high level of availability and reduces maintenance costs. The portfolio covers the entire value chain from consulting, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, plant expansion as well as turnarounds and also includes environmental technologies and digital applications.

The company delivers its services in two service lines: Technologies and Engineering & Maintenance. Bilfinger is primarily active in the regions Continental Europe, Northwest Europe, North America and the Middle East. Process industry customers come from sectors that include chemicals & petrochemicals, energy & utilities, oil & gas, pharma & biopharma, metallurgy and cement. With its 36,000 employees, Bilfinger upholds the highest standards of safety and quality and generated revenue of €4.153 billion in financial year 2018.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has implemented process improvements to provide a reliable and stable supply of its attapulgite offerings, said company.

The enhancements at their site in Quincy, Florida include expanding of milling and product packaging capabilities for coarse gel, fine gel and granular materials, as well as improved logistics in shipping the mineral globally. This initiative is aligned with the increasing demand of attapulgite in BASF’s major markets around the world.

For the past few years, meeting the increasing demand for attapulgite has been challenging, especially in emerging economies where construction and infrastructure development has been on the rise.

“We have introduced several improvements to site operations, including investments in new packaging equipment, as well as upgrading throughput in our mills. These actions will strengthen our ability to provide a reliable supply of high quality attapulgite-based materials to support the business growth of our customers globally,” said Dr. Claus Dallner, Vice President, Global Business Management for Additives, BASF.

BASF has also improved its warehouse management system to allow for ample safety stock to offset seasonal demand spikes. Customers from all over the world can rest assure that their deliveries will be fulfilled even during peak seasons.

Attapulgite is a naturally mined needle-like clay mineral composed of magnesium-aluminium silicate. The mineral takes its name from the town of Attapulgus, Georgia, where the US supply of the mineral is found. BASF operates its attapulgite mines in this area with the manufacturing facility located approximately 17 miles south of Attapulgus in Quincy, Florida. BASF owns the majority of the 18,000 acres in Florida and Georgia supplying the plant with the product.

"Our attapulgite products can help our customers reduce formulation complexity and improve efficiency. It offers very good colloidal properties, such as specific features in dispersion, high temperature endurance, salt and alkali resistance, as well as high adsorbing and de-coloring capabilities,” said Michelle Tadlock, Product Manager of Attapulgite, BASF.

BASF’s flagship brands, Attagel and Microsorb®, cater to diverse market applications such as construction, paint, foundry, catalyst, animal feed, drilling mud, agriculture, oil filtration and absorbents. In addition, BASF offers specialty products such as Emcor 66, used in friction compounds such as automotive brake pads, and Pharmasorb® for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

It was earlier said that BASF plans to build an engineering plastics compounding plant and a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) plant at the company’s proposed integrated chemical production (“Verbund”) site in Zhanjiang, China. These will be the first production plants to come onstream at the site.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The United Arab Emirates’ Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Co (BPGIC) said that it plans to set up an oil refinery in Fujairah to produce bunker fuel that complies with new international laws capping sulfur content in shipping fuels, reported Reuters.

The first phase of the planned 250,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery will be completed in the first quarter of 2020, the company said in a statement.

New regulations from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will require ships to use fuels with a sulfur content below 0.5% beginning in 2020. Current shipping fuel is much dirtier, with a higher sulfur content.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2018, Borouge PP Plant EPCBorouge signed the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with Maire Tecnimont Group for building its fifth polypropylene (PP) plant with a capacity of 480,000 t/y in Ruwais to increase production capacity of PP by 25% to 2.24 million tonnes t/y. This opens up new opportunities to integrate with the local industries. The new PP5 plant will be added to the existing Borouge 3 plants in Ruwais scheduled to be commissioned in Q3 2021.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bilfinger has been chosen as maintenance partner for a EUR60 million contract by SABIC UK Petrochemicals Limited to carry out a range of services across facilities on its Teesside site, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The services will include mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engineering, as well as access, insulation, painting, and asbestos management and removal. The four-year contract has a volume of circa ?50 million (EUR57.8 million) and comes under Bilfinger’s Engineering & Maintenance service line.

“Bilfinger has a strong track record of industrial services on such large scale assets. With our Bilfinger Maintenance Concept, we help our customers boost asset efficiency and availability while cutting maintenance costs. SABIC has chosen a reliable partner in Bilfinger with a long history of proven experience to ensure smooth production and short downtimes at one of its largest sites,” Tom Blades, CEO of Bilfinger said.

Bilfinger employs 2,500 employees in the UK, with approximately 200 employees dedicated to the engineering and maintenance services for SABIC.

Bilfinger’s services for process industry customers include design and build, automated control and electrical systems, installation and commissioning as well as operations and maintenance.

MRC informed earlier, SABIC has announced that the company is making significant investments in expanding the capacity of its ULTEM and EXTEM high heat resin production in order to meet growing demand.
The new production plant in Singapore is due to come on-stream in the first half of 2021, making SABIC the only high heat resin producer with manufacturing capability in all regions.

SABIC is a global chemical company, employing over 540 people across two sites in Teesside. Its Wilton site is located on Wilton International, one of the UK’s leading process manufacturing sites.

MRC