Técnicas Reunidas and Axens to jointly promote CCS projects

Técnicas Reunidas and Axens to jointly promote CCS projects

Tecnicas Reunidas and Axens have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly promote carbon capture (CCS) projects and provide integrated solutions from the concept to the handover of the project, based on Axens technologies, according Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The two companies will work together to accelerate the transition to a zero-emission future by helping companies in energy-intensive industrial sectors, such as the chemical, steel, cement and paper industries, to reduce carbon emissions from their assets.

As MRC informed earlier, in January, 2022, SOCAR HQ held a ceremony to sign licensing and design agreements for the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit between the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery (HAOR) and the French company Axens as part of the HAOR modernization and reconstruction project. It is worth noting that SOCAR and Axens have a long-term co-operation. At present, the diesel hydrotreatment, gasoline hydrotreatment and C4 (butane-butylene) hydrogenation units as part of the Heydar Aliyev refinery reconstruction project, as well as the C3 (propane-propylene) hydrogenation unit as part of the reconstruction works carried out at Azerkimya PU, the naphtha hydrotreatment, diesel hydrotreatment and kerosene hydrotreatment units at the STAR refinery built in Turkey are licensed by Axens.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

U.S. hits Russian oil refining sector

U.S. hits Russian oil refining sector

The U.S. took aim at Russia's oil refining sector with new export curbs and targeted Belarus with sweeping new export restrictions, as the Biden administration amps up its crackdown on Moscow and Minsk over the invasion of Ukraine, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new round of sanctions announced by the White House ban the export of specific refining technologies, making it harder for Russia to modernize its oil refineries. The White House also applied a sweeping set of export restrictions levied against Russia last month to Belarus, arguing the controls would help prevent the diversion of items, including technology and software, in the defense, aerospace and maritime sectors to Russia through Belarus.

"The U.S. will take actions to hold Belarus accountable for enabling Putin's invasion of Ukraine, weaken the Russian defense sector and its military power for years to come, target Russia’s most important sources of wealth and ban Russian airlines from U.S. airspace," the White House said. The European Union (EU) also approved new sanctions against Belarus for its supporting role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, effectively banning about 70% of all imports from that country, the EU said on Wednesday.

The U.S. has steadily increased sanctions on Moscow after Putin began the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Belarus has allowed Russian troops to use its territory as a staging ground for the assault. The Commerce Department, which oversees U.S. export controls, also said it was adding to a trade blacklist entities with ties to the Russian and Belarusian military and defense sectors, making it much harder for them to receive U.S. technology imports.

In a detailed filing about the new restrictions on Belarus, the U.S. said it would allow mobile phone and software sales to consumers in Belarus, but not to President Alexander Lukashenko, his intelligence staff, the Belarusian military, as well as members of state media and other government officials. The U.S. State Department will also impose sanctions targeting 22 Russian defense-related entities, including firms that make combat aircraft and missiles for the country's military, to "further restrict Putin's war machine," the White House said.

Russia exports between 2 MMbpd and 3 MMbpd of refined products, making it one of the world's largest exporters of fuels. The country has about 5.5 MM bbl of crude refining capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Department, citing Oil & Gas Journal figures.

Russia's invasion has yet to achieve its aim of overthrowing Ukraine's government but has sent more than 870,000 people fleeing to neighboring countries and jolted the global economy as governments and companies line up to isolate Moscow.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil said it will exit a major oil and gas project and cease investing in Russia, making it the latest western oil company to cut ties with the country following its invasion of Ukraine. The Texas-based energy supermajor said it was “discontinuing operations” at the Sakhalin-1 project in Russia’s far east, one of the largest foreign-operated oil and gasfields in the country. Exxon follows BP, Shell and Norway’s Equinor, which have said they will dump stakes in projects and sell out of Russian state-backed energy groups after Moscow was hit with a barrage of western sanctions.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

EFS-Plastics and Kal-Polymers to expand recycled polyolefin processing

EFS-Plastics and Kal-Polymers to expand  recycled polyolefin processing

Canadian-based recyclers EFS-Plastics and Kal-Polymers have announced significant investments in expanding their recycled polyolefin processing capacity in 2022, said the company.

EFS-Plastics announced it will be building a 70,000 square feet (sq ft) facility in Lethbridge Alberta, with a recycled plastic processing capacity of 10,000 tonnes/year. Building on its relationships with US material recovery facilities (MRFs), it will source mixed rigid plastic bales from the western United States and Canada.

EFS-plastics has two other facilities, a mixed rigids-focused plant in Listowel, Ontario and a film-focused facility in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. They currently offer 100% post consumer recycled (PCR) high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP) resins.

Similarly, Kal-Polymers has declared it is spending USD7.8m on an additional post-industrial based food grade PP recycling line at its flagship facility in Mississauga, Ontario. The line is slated to be operational around the start of Q3. With the addition of this fifth line, its total recycled plastics processing capacity will increase to approximately 68,000 tonnes/year.

Kal-Polymers also has a 100,000 sq ft facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia, purchased in 2019 and expanded in 2020, bringing the facility to a total of four recycling lines. Aside from PP, Kal Polymers offers food-grade post-industrial based linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Both announcements come as demand for recycled plastics continues to grow, on the back of sustainability targets from major consumer brands companies.

As per MRC, EFS-plastics Inc. has acquired custom blow molder Exi-Plast Custom Moulding for an undisclosed amount. Both companies will continue to operate under their organizational structures, officials with Listowel, Ont.-based EFS said in a news release.

Founded in 1992, Exi-Plast is headquartered in Huron Park, Ontario.
MRC

MMEX Resources acquires additional sites for ultra clean refinery projects

MMEX Resources acquires additional sites for ultra clean refinery projects

MMEX Resources Corp. announced it has completed additional site acquisitions of 632 acres for its West Texas projects, bringing its total land ownership to 1,082 acres, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

“We announced on February 22, 2022 that along with Polaris Engineering, we had completed significant milestones on the technology timeline for our UltraClean Refinery project and we have received permit approval for the project by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on February 18, 2022,” said Jack W. Hanks, President and CEO of MMEX Resources Corp.

“Today, we closed the acquisition of 632 acres of additional land in Pecos County, Texas. This significant acreage position gives us the flexibility to source our solar complex and to provide the space for both our ultra clean fuels refinery and our green hydrogen project. We estimate we can build potentially another 97 MW/dc of solar power with this additional acreage.”

As MRC reported earlier, in March, 2017, MMEX Resources Corp., a development stage company focusing on the acquisition, development and financing of oil, gas, refining and infrastructure projects in Texas and South America, and KP Engineering, an energy industry company in engineering, procurement and construction solutions, announced a partnership for KPE to engineer, design and construct the planned Pecos County refinery.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

LANXESS offers EPDfor synthetic iron oxide pigments

LANXESS offers EPDfor synthetic iron oxide pigments

LANXESS is the first manufacturer of synthetic iron oxide pigments to offer verified environmental product declarations (EPDs) for selected product groups. These EPDs allow LANXESS to deliver comprehensive information about the cradle-to-gate environmental impact of its pigments, according to SpecialChem.

The information provided is based on the international ISO 14025 standard as well as the European EN 15804 standard for construction products and services of all kinds.

“Publishing EPDs is a mark of our commitment to setting the highest sustainability standards in the pigments industry,” said Michael Ertl, head of the inorganic pigments business unit at LANXESS. “Our iron oxide pigments from the trusted Bayferrox brand are used to add color to concrete building materials as well as for paints and plastics employed in the construction industry worldwide,” he added.

An EPD describes construction materials, products, or components in terms of their environmental impact. These declarations are based on life-cycle assessments as well as the functional and technical properties of the item in question.

The environmental product declarations for Bayferrox pigments from LANXESS are tested in accordance with international standards by Institut fur Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU), an association of building product manufacturers. The IBU program is aimed at creating reliable and comprehensive assessments of the environmental impact of construction products in line with international DIN standards and includes verification by independent experts.

Membership of the European ECO Platform, which involves numerous agreements concerning mutual recognition between participating program operators, underlines the global reputation of IBU.

Sustainable construction is a vital part of the journey toward an economical and environmentally friendly future. Consequently, environmental product declarations are increasingly being used in the construction industry and are among the key prerequisites for structures to be granted sustainability certification.

LANXESS has assigned the issue of sustainability directly to the portfolios of its board of management members. They cover climate protection and energy, occupational health and safety, environmental protection, products and circular value chains, the workforce, corporate culture, and transparent reporting on achievement of sustainability.

Through its Sustainability Committee, set up in 2021, the board of management members make joint decisions on key sustainability projects.

As MRC reported before, in October 2021, specialty chemicals company LANXESS and energy company bp are entering into a strategic partnership for the use of sustainable raw materials in high-tech plastics production. bp will supply sustainably produced cyclohexane to the LANXESS’ production site in Antwerp, Belgium, starting in the fourth quarter of 2021. The sustainable origin of the raw materials is certified according to ISCC Plus rules (“International Sustainability and Carbon Certification”). With this partnership, both companies, which already have a long-standing business relationship, want to significantly advance the production of sustainable plastics.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
MRC