PKN Orlen develops carbon dioxide polymer technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland's biggest refiner PKN Orlen is exploring ways to produce polymers using carbon dioxide, its director of innovation and new technology development Arkadiusz Majoch said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

New technology to capture, store, reuse or replace carbon pollution is being explored around the world, with some companies working on methods of converting the greenhouse gas into products such as plastic, soap, or fabric.

"Right now we are finishing some research in the laboratory and already we started purchasing pilot plans where CO2 will be the raw material...and at the end, we are expecting to have some polymers," Majoch told a panel during a conference on carbon capture and utilization (CCU).

He said Orlen had a budget of more than two billion zlotys (USD509.2 million) to spend over the next nine years on developing and implementing technology across the group's companies and was looking to implement the results of the polymer pilot at one of them, possibly in Plock in central Poland.

All of the group's more than 500 projects qualified as decarbonisation or related to decarbonisation, with some "strictly dedicated" to CCU, Majoch added when asked how much of the budget would be ringfenced for CCU.

Under its 2030 strategy, Orlen plans to reduce CO2 emissions from existing refining and petrochemical assets by 20% and by 33% from its power generation business. It has also set a 2050 target date for achieving a net zero carbon footprint.

As per MRC, Orlen Unipetrol (part of PKN Orlen), a major Czech producer of petrochemical products, will expand the capacity of its steam cracker in Litvinov (Czech Republic) by installing a new furnace. The new cracking unit will be built by Technip Energies in Zaluzi, the largest chemical plant in the Czech Republic, and is due to be commissioned in 2022. Orlen is investing over 700 mln Polish zlotys (Zl) in the project.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year.

Czech Orlen Unipetrol is a joint stock company that deals with oil refining and production of petrochemical products in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. It is one of the ten largest Czech companies in terms of revenue. The company was founded in 1994 and since 2004 has been part of PKN Orlen, which owns 94.05% of the shares in the company.
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1. Shell Q3 earnings to be hit by Hurricane Ida

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell warned of a USD400 million hit to third-quarter earnings from the damage caused by August’s Hurricane Ida, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. However, in an update ahead of quarterly results this month, the oil major also flagged a boost to cashflows from soaring natural gas and electricity prices. Gas and power prices have been surging as tight gas supplies have collided with strong demand in economies recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Shell is the world’s top seller of liquefied natural gas (LNG), accounting for about 20% of global demand, though its sales have declined in recent months because of production problems.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Orlen Unipetrol (part of PKN Orlen), a major Czech producer of petrochemical products, will expand the capacity of its steam cracker in Litvinov (Czech Republic) by installing a new furnace, PKN Orlen reported.

The new cracking unit will be built by Technip Energies in Zaluzi, the largest chemical plant in the Czech Republic, and is due to be commissioned in 2022. Orlen is investing over 700 mln Czech crown (CZK) in the project.

The move follows the completion of a new PLN 10 billion plant for the production of low-density polyethylene (HDPE) last year. The installation of the latter furnace will increase the total ethylene capacity to 545,000 tonnes per year.

It was previously reported that Unipetrol was renamed Orlen Unipetrol effective January 1, 2021. Unipetrol is 100% owned by the Orlen Group.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year.

Czech Orlen Unipetrol is a joint stock company that deals with oil refining and production of petrochemical products in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. It is one of the ten largest Czech companies in terms of revenue. The company was founded in 1994 and since 2004 has been part of PKN Orlen, which owns 94.05% of the shares in the company.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Lukoil, the second largest oil company in Russia, began construction of the second stage of a gas processing unit (GPU-2) on Stavrolen in Budennovsk in the Stavropol Territory on 7 October, the company said.

The construction of the GPU-2 will increase the intake of associated petroleum gas from the fields of the North Caspian to 5 billion cubic meters. m per year, which will increase the volume of valuable raw materials for pyrolysis (ethane and NGL), which Stavrolen uses to produce marketable products.

GPU-2 is the first facility to be built as part of a comprehensive enterprise development program. The company plans to increase the productivity of pyrolysis technological units, as well as the volume and range of produced polyethylene and polypropylene.

It is expected that following the implementation of the comprehensive development program for Stavrolen, the capacity for ethylene production will grow from 350 to 420 thousand tons per year, polyethylene - from 300 to 405 thousand tons, copolymer grades of polypropylene - from 80,000 to 120,000 tonnes.

Lukoil plans to invest 300 billion rubles in the development of the Stavrolen petrochemical enterprise.

Earlier it was reported that in July of this year, Lukoil began construction of a polypropylene (PP) production complex on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod refinery in the city of Kstovo. The complex will become the largest polypropylene production facility in Russia integrated into an oil refinery. The raw material for polypropylene production at Lukoil's Nizhny Novgorod site will be propylene from two modernized catalytic cracking units with a capacity of 4 million tonnes per year. After putting the complex into operation, the enterprise will be able to produce about 500,000 tonnes of polypropylene grades.

In addition, Lukoil is preparing a feasibility study for an investment project to monetize its own raw materials into ethylene oxide, mono-, di- and triethylene glycols at one of the production sites in the Volga Federal District.

According to MRC's DataScope, PP imports to Russia grew by 16% in the first eight months of this year compared to the previous year and amounted to 165,800 tonnes. The main increase in external supplies fell on propylene copolymers.

Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include operations for the exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest privately-owned oil company in the world in terms of proven hydrocarbon reserves. The structure of Lukoil includes one of the largest petrochemical enterprises in Russia - Stavrolen. Previously, the company also included Karpatneftekhim, the largest polymer producer in Ukraine, but in February 2017 Lukoil completed a deal to sell this asset.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Albemarle Corporation, a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, announced today the addition of ACTION+ Catalyst Technology to the company’s cornerstone ACTION FCC Catalyst line following two successful commercial trials, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company announced this new technology product during the 2021 AFPM (American Fuel & Petroleum Manufacturers) Summit in New Orleans, an annual two-day industry education event.

“Introduced in 2007, Albemarle’s ACTION Catalyst Technology has delivered best-in-class performance in butylene yield/selectivity and gasoline octane to refiners worldwide,” said Raphael Crawford, President, Catalysts. “Today’s introduction of ACTION+ catalyst technology builds off that strong history with next-generation butylene yields and gasoline octane."

ACTION+ leverages the core technology of ACTION, the shape-selective ZT-400, in conjunction with ZT500, a new, innovative, Y-zeolite stabilization system. ZT-500 minimizes hydrogen transfer reactions, providing maximum LPG olefinicity with unrivaled butylene/propylene selectivity, and preserves those species which maximize gasoline octane.

"Albemarle understands that today's refiners face new, diverse and daunting obstacles to profitable FCC operation in an extremely challenging and competitive business environment,” said Crawford. “Our goal is to continue to provide novel, creative solutions for shaping and optimizing product yield slates to ensure maximum returns."

ACTION+ Catalyst Technology is available on a global basis after completing two commercial campaigns.

As MRC wrote previously, in 2018, W. R. Grace & Co. completed the USD416 million acquisition of the Polyolefin Catalysts business of Albemarle Corporation. The acquired business primarily develops and manufactures proprietary and custom-manufactured single-site catalysts as well as metallocenes and activators used in the production of plastic resins. The transaction also includes a comprehensive series of highly optimized Ziegler-Natta catalysts for polyethylene (PE) production.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine and refining catalysts. The company actively pursues a sustainable approach to managing our diverse global footprint of world-class resources.
MRC