Air Liquide to start biomethane activity in China

Air Liquide invested and will operate its first biomethane production unit in China by the end of 2022, said the company.

Located in Huai’an City, in the Jiangsu Province, the unit will have a production capacity of 75 GWh per year. This project demonstrates a circular economy and low-carbon approach, in line with the Group’s Sustainable Objectives and strategic plan, ADVANCE.

This new unit will produce biogas from agricultural and livestock waste coming from local farms and purify it into biomethane. With a total production capacity of 75 GWh/y, the unit will inject the biomethane into the city gas grid to be used for household consumption and generate electricity for its own consumption and injection into the electrical grid.

The biomethane unit will follow a circular economy approach. The digestate, a by-product material resulting from the biogas production, will be processed to produce bio-fertilisers. These bio-fertilisers will be used in the local agriculture, which, besides food products, will also generate some waste that will be processed in this unit to produce biomethane.

Biomethane has a high potential in China in particular as the Chinese government supports projects promoting the valorisation of waste as part of its financial plans for the development of rural regions.

Air Liquide has developed competencies throughout the whole biomethane value chain, starting with biogas production from waste to its purification into biomethane, liquefaction, storage, and transportation to distribution. Air Liquide now has 21 biomethane operational production units in the world for a yearly production capacity of about 1.4 TWh.

As per MRC, Air Products and Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam (GPR), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gunvor Group (Gunvor), have signed a joint development agreement for an import terminal in Rotterdam, the companies said.The agreement responds to the accelerating demand for green energy sources to meet climate objectives and the need to diversify energy sources, with the import terminal expected to provide green hydrogen to the Netherlands in 2026, Air Products said.
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Hexion Inc. announced that it has begun using bio-based methanol in the production of formaldehyde at its Baytown, Texas, manufacturing site. The formaldehyde is then provided to a key customer that leverages bio-benzene to produce methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), ultimately offering a product with more sustainable attributes through significantly lower air emissions compared to those produced with fossil fuel-based methanol, said the company.

Depending on the customers' preference, Hexion is in position to further adopt bio-based raw materials into its production processes at various locations throughout its global manufacturing grid. Similar to other sites, Hexion supplies this customer through a pipeline, which further reduces the overall energy intensity of its production processes considering the minimal logistical costs compared to alternative delivery methods, such as truck or rail.

"By leveraging renewable feedstocks, such as bio-based methanol, we are able to provide a solution that fully meets our customers' exacting performance standards and offers additional sustainable benefits,” said Dave Collins, Senior Vice President, Global Formaldehyde, Hexion. “By using bio-based methanol, Hexion is making an important contribution to achieving the climate goals of its customer industries. In addition, using bio-based methanol, also known as renewable methanol, in our products aligns with our overall sustainability goals, particularly those related to new product development and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We remain committed to continuous improvement in all facets of our sustainability initiatives."

Compared to conventional fossil fuels, renewable methanol cuts carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95 percent, reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80 percent, and eliminates sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions, according to the Methanol Institute. Renewable methanol is an ultra-low carbon chemical produced from sustainable biomass, often called bio-methanol, or from carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced from renewable electricity.

As part of its strategic sustainability initiatives, Hexion previously announced its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2030. Hexion’s commitment encompasses “Scope 1” and “Scope 2” emissions, which are direct and indirect greenhouse emissions from operations and consumed energy. The Company is also reviewing its “Scope 3” emissions, which are those associated with all other aspects of our business. In addition, for two consecutive years, Hexion has received the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award, bestowed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program, for the Company’s many successes in waste reduction and energy efficiency.

As per MRC, Hexion is strategically strengthening its manufacturing footprint in support of its ArmorBuilt Fire Protection product through an expansion of its Missoula, Montana site. To meet the continued strong demand, Hexion previously announced two capacity expansions at its Portland, Oregon manufacturing site in 2021. The Missoula site expansion will enable Hexion to significantly increase its capacity to serve customers more easily in the Western United States and beyond, which are areas prone to wildfires. The new capacity is expected to come online in fourth quarter of 2022.
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Lummus Technology announced the launch of a major enhancement to its leading ethane feed steam cracker that is capable of achieving zero CO2 emissions from an ethylene plant, said Hydrocarbonprocesing.

Lummus developed this next generation design as part of its comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all of its technology offerings.

The cracker, which is the industry's first, is now available for commercial use to decarbonize a process in petrochemical manufacturing that is very carbon intensive. It can be incorporated into both new and existing ethane crackers, and at sites and facilities of different sizes.

"Ethylene producers are looking for solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of their investments, and this new net zero ethane cracker will help them achieve their decarbonization goals," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "By launching the world's first CO2-free ethane cracker, we are leveraging Lummus' innovative culture and proven ability to commercialize breakthrough technologies to play a critical role in the energy transition."

The combustion of methane or other carbon-based fuels can be eliminated through innovations to the cracking heater design, resulting in significant reductions in the fuel firing demand, enhancements in the recovery section and a partial switch from steam turbine to electric drivers on the major compressors.

Lummus' proprietary ethane feed steam cracking process is the most widely applied process for the production of polymer grade ethylene and polymer grade propylene. The process is noted for its performance including high product yield, energy efficiency, low investment cost and industry-leading reliability.

As per MRC, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced the commissioning and startup of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit at Shandong Ruize Chemical Technology Co., Ltd.'s complex in Zibo City, Shandong Province, China. With a capacity of 300 KTA, the unit uses Lummus' world-class CATOFIN® PDH technology to produce propylene. The unit is part of Shandong Ruize's plan to transition its complex from refining to petrochemicals.
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Cosmo Films, a Global leader in films for packaging, labelling, lamination and synthetic paper and an emerging player in specialty chemicals, polymers & pet care announced expansion by setting up CPP film production line at Aurangabad with annual rated capacity of 25,000 MT, said the company.

The CPP line will require investment of about Rs 140 crores to be funded through internal accruals and debts and is expected to commence commercial production in 2 years.

Commenting on CPP line project Pankaj Poddar, Group CEO, Cosmo Films said, “Worldwide significant focus is being given on recyclability & sustainability of packaging films. Monolayer structure of CPP and BOPP is most preferred structure to address sustainability requirements. With current CPP capacity running close to 100% utilization, the Company planned capacity expansion with the world’s largest width line and lowest cost of production. Other growth plans i.e. Specialized BOPET line, BOPP line, focus towards growing specialty sales, expansion with Cosmo Specialty Chemicals and Zigly are progressing well in line with the plan."

As MRC informed earlier, Cosmo Films introduced BOPP based heat resistant (HR) films. The films have been engineered to work as printing layer replacing BOPET film in multi-layer laminates for various packaging applications in both food and non-food segments. The company has also launched a barrier version of the film.

Established in 1981 and founded by Ashok Jaipuria, Cosmo Films today is a global leader in specialty films for packaging, lamination, labeling and synthetic paper. With engineering of innovative products and sustainability solutions, Cosmo Films over the years has been partnering with worlds’ leading F&B and personal care brands and packaging & printing converters to enhance the end consumer experience. Its customer base is spread in more than 100 countries with sales & manufacturing units in India and Korea and additionally sales & distribution base in Japan, USA, Canada and Europe. The company is strategically expanding beyond Films into Specialty Chemicals & Polymers as well as Pet care business.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF and Sinopec are further expanding their joint Verbund site in Nanjing, China. It is manufactured by BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. (BASF-YPC), a 50:50 joint venture between the two companies, said Chemie-zeitschrif.

The capacities of several downstream chemical plants will be expanded for the growing Chinese market. This also includes the construction of a new tertiary butyl acrylate plant.

The partners want to expand the production capacities for propionic acid, propionaldehyde, ethylene amines and ethanol amines as well as for high-purity ethylene oxide and build a new tertiary butyl acrylate plant. This expands the network by using acrylic acid and isobutene from existing plants as raw materials. This state-of-the-art production technology is being used outside of Germany for the first time. The expanded and new facilities are scheduled to go into operation in 2023.

"SINOPEC and BASF have been working closely and in partnership for a long time, have implemented relevant requirements of national and local governments to accelerate the transformation of the petrochemical industry, continuously optimized the industrial structure and promoted the further development of customer-oriented growth markets," says Yuefeng Gu, Chairman of SINOPEC Yangzi Petrochemical Co.,Ltd. and BASF-YPC Co.,Ltd. "With the expansion of the Verbund site, we will provide more high-quality and new materials for the Chinese market to meet the growing demand of our domestic customers and support the development of new industries."

As per MRC, BASF completed the installation and start-up of a state-of-the-art acrylic dispersions production line in Dahej, India, serving the coatings, construction, adhesives, and paper industries for the South Asian markets.

As per MRC, BASF completed a double-digit million euro investment to increase production capacity for Tinopal CBS optical brighteners at its Monthey site. Following phase one of the stepwise capacity increase in 2021, the recent completion of the investment program has now brought significantly increased capacity on stream to meet growing global customer demand.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.

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