MOSCOW (MRC) -- PJSC Tatneft’s Tatneftegazpererabotka (UTNGP) is adding a new unit as part of an ongoing modernization program at its Minnibayevo gas processing plant (MGPP) in Tatarstan’s Almetyevsk region, said Chemweek.
Recently approved for its permit to build, the project includes construction of a normal butane (n-butane) processing unit and associated off-site installations within the boundaries of the existing MGPP complex, Tatneft said.
The new n-butane unit will be equipped with the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes/year of n-butane into solid maleic anhydride, which is used to produce polymers used in the food, textile, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries, according to the operator.
Scheduled for commissioning in 2023, the n-butane unit comes as part of a broader upgrading program at the MGPP complex, which also includes the proposed reconstruction of a cryogenic unit for deep processing of dry stripped gas (DSG).
Alongside enabling deep processing of DSG, the cryogenic unit revamp—due to be completed in December 2023—also will increase the site’s depth of ethane fraction recovery the calorific value of carbon dioxide, as well as reduce the volume of hydrocarbons in nitrogen-containing gas, allowing the complex to reduce the amount of hydrocarbon emissions into the atmosphere by about 42%, Tatneft said.
The MGPP modernization program is part of Tatneft’s renewed focus on its gas processing and petrochemical operations given the current situation in the petroleum market, according to Azat Bikmurzin, director of Tatneft’s petrochemicals business.
As mRC informed earlier, PJSC Tatneft and Slovnaft announced they have signed a cooperation agreement for the development of joint projects in the downstream sector. The agreement document identified possible areas for the development of joint projects aimed at the production of biocomponents for motor fuels, modified road bitumen and lubricants.
We remind that Russia's output of products from polymers grew in August 2020 by 4.1% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.9% year on year in the first eight months of 2020, reported MRC analysts. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, August production of unreinforced and non-combined films rose to 126,300 tonnes from 118,200 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-August 2020 by 8.3% year on year to 863,200 tonnes. August production of non-porous polymer boards, sheets and films exceeded 38,700 tonnes versus 36,400 tonnes in July. Thus, overall output of these products reached 271,900 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.5% year on year.
MRC