Mitsui Chemicals inks deal with Shell for plastic waste-based ethylene supply

Mitsui Chemicals inks deal with Shell for plastic waste-based ethylene supply

Mitsui Chemicals has signed an agreement with Singapore-based Shell Eastern Petroleum on the supply of ethylene derived from plastic waste, which will in turn be used to produce polyethylene (PE), said the Japanese producer.

Mitsui Chemicals subsidiary Prime Polymer Co "will begin efforts toward the production of chemically recycled polyethylene derived from plastic waste via subsidiary Prime Evolue Singapore", it said in a statement. "Prime Evolue Singapore will leverage this ethylene to supply plastic waste-derived circular polyethylene as a new part of the Evolue lineup it manufactures and sells," Mitsui Chemicals said.

Shell is currently building a new 50,000 tonne/year pyrolysis oil upgrader unit at its manufacturing site on Pulau Bukom in Singapore. The upgrader unit - slated to start production in 2023 - improves the quality of pyrolysis oil, a liquid made from hard-to-recycle plastic waste that would have gone into a landfill, and turns it into a chemical feedstock.

International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), a globally applicable sustainability certification system, has issued Shell’s plastic-waste-derived ethylene ISCC PLUS certification, which finds wide use as a system for certifying biomass-based and recycled raw materials, according to Mitsui Chemicals.

Prime Evolue Singapore currently runs a 300,000 tonnes/year linear low density PE plant in Singapore, according to the ICIS Supply and Demand database. Mitsui Chemicals is looking to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through a two-pronged approach that combines recycling with a biomass transition for chemicals and plastics.

"The recycling of plastic waste is expected to be a crucial strategic element in the push for such a circular economy. Going forward, Mitsui Chemicals and Prime Polymer will continue to make ardent efforts on the fronts of both recycling and biomass," Mitsui Chemicals added.

On Sep 14, 2022, Mitsui Chemicals has asked Shell Catalysts & Technologies (SC&T) for its Shell S-896 catalyst, which is expected to provide important economic benefits from raw material (ethylene) savings and also help the organization meet the decarbonization goals for their ethylene oxide (EO) refinery in Osaka, Japan.
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Trelleborg expands its capabilities in engineered polymer solutions

Trelleborg expands its capabilities in engineered polymer solutions

MRC --Trelleborg Sealing Solutions expands its unique capabilities in engineered performance polymer solutions, through its investment in the High-Performance Thermoplastics Technology and Development Center, located in Denver, Colorado, US. The center delivers custom value-added capabilities for sealing, cushioning, and protection, using thermoplastics to replace metal components, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This reduces mass and weight, eliminates corrosion, improves reliability and lowers maintenance requirements. Brian Richards, Director of Global R&D Business Development, says: “Our unique portfolio and knowledge of diverse markets and solutions enables us to maximize the value we create for our customers.

They need a partner that has the right people, resources, and passion for solutions in a complex world. Trelleborg’s High-Performance Thermoplastics Technology and Development Center partners with customers globally on their complex challenges to simplify them and add real value. With such a wide variety of material options, choosing an experienced partner like Trelleborg is essential, with our expertise and resources reducing time-to-market when developing new products and keeping pace with accelerating innovation cycles."

Previously expensive to produce, advances in manufacturing, part simulation, and material development make thermoplastic composites viable for an increasing number of applications, offering greater design flexibility than thermoset composites and metals. This makes it easier to meet application requirements, while optimizing strength-to-weight ratios and physical properties.

Trelleborg’s High-Performance Thermoplastics Technology and Development Center offers custom thermoplastic materials, compounds, and geometries to meet specific application requirements. This includes products with enhanced corrosion and fire resistance, and specialized compounds that can withstand challenging or niche environments for longer periods of time. Innovative manufacturing processes at the center enable production of smaller and more complex shapes, leading to reduced-size components or multiple functions combined into one solution.

In addition, the center provides customers with access to Trelleborg’s extensive R&D resources, including simulation (mold flow and stress/strain), tribology testing, material analysis including DSC (Digital Scanning Calorimetry), TGA (Thermal Gravimetric Analysis), DMA (Dynamic Mechanical Analysis), microscopy, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), and compositional analysis and operational testing.

Richards, adds: “Our thermoplastic composites offer customers products that are multifunctional, add or enhance properties or consolidate parts. Thermoplastic composites are significantly lighter, with half the density of aluminum and a sixth of steel yet are strong with high impact resistance allowing them to replace structural elements.

We remind, Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation inaugurated its new purpose built facility in Retford, England, further enhancing its polyurethane manufacturing capabilities. "The new facility will be a Center of Excellence for Trelleborg’s diversified polyurethane component manufacturing, bringing together experience, innovation and technology under one roof," the company said in a press release.

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Braskem Idesa works with Emerson to drive operational excellence, achieve sustainability goals

Braskem Idesa works with Emerson to drive operational excellence, achieve sustainability goals

Global software and technology leader Emerson announced a strategic partnership with Braskem Idesa to provide digital automation technologies and engineering services across its operations to meet business performance metrics and achieve its sustainability goals, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Braskem Idesa is a joint venture between Brazil-based Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas, and Grupo Idesa, one of the biggest petrochemical companies in Mexico.

A multi-year digital transformation roadmap will leverage Emerson’s extensive petrochemical industry expertise and broad portfolio of advanced automation technology and software solutions to drive not only operational excellence but also support Braskem Idesa’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) scope 1 and 2 by 15% by 2028 and achieving full carbon neutrality by 2050.

“We identified several key financial and performance benchmarks and brought Emerson on board to participate in the creation of a detailed digital transformation strategy for achieving Top-Quartile results,” said Stefan Lepecki, Braskem Idesa’s CEO. “Having a well-defined path forward has given us the confidence to pursue our sustainability and performance goals, with advanced, integrated technologies that help us support market demands."

Reliability and energy efficiency using data analytics, continuous emissions monitoring systems, LED lights and fugitive emissions reductions.

These work streams align with Braskem Idesa’s three-pronged strategy for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency, renewable energy use and low carbon intensity process technologies; renewable feedstocks and post-consumer recycling; and capturing carbon emissions to use as raw materials, value-added chemicals and as an alternative to future carbon taxes.

“Successful leaders are realizing that sustainability initiatives are also good business,” said Mark Bulanda, executive president of Emerson’s Automation Solutions business. “Reducing waste and unnecessary raw material consumption, lowering energy costs and driving profitability, all while improving environmental sustainability, is absolutely possible with the right focus and resolve.

We remind, Braskem, the market leader and a pioneer in the production of biopolymers, entered into an agreement for the acquisition of shares and the subscription of new shares in Wise Plasticos S.A., a company engaged in mechanical recycling. Braskem will acquire an equity interest of 61.1% in the share capital of Wise for an estimated amount of RD121 million, part of which will be used to expand its current production capacity by two-fold to around 50,000 tons/year of recycling by 2026.

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Exxon Mobil says French refineries could take 2-3 weeks to fully restart

Exxon Mobil says French refineries could take 2-3 weeks to fully restart

ExxonMobil's 140,000 barrel per day (bpd) fos-Sur-Mer and 240,000 bpd Port Jerome-Gravenchon oil refineries in France could take 2-3 weeks to fully restart after shutdowns caused by strikes, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Strike action overpay at the two refineries, which resulted in a three-week closure, ended late last week. This has allowed Exxon to begin restarting the plants.

The outages, coupled with walkouts at oil major TotalEnergies, contributed to supply problems at French petrol stations and resulted in growing queues of motorists worried about supply disruption.

A nationwide strike in France on Tuesday has not affected the restart of Exxon's refineries, the spokesperson said.

ExxonMobil asked the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to move back by a month a hearing on a complaint the company unlawfully locked out more than 600 workers from its Beaumont, Texas, refinery.

We remind, ExxonMobil is gradually shutting down its 235,000 barrel per day (bpd) Fos-Sur-Mer refinery in France as a result of ongoing strike action. Walkouts caused the gradual shut down of Exxon's 240,000 bpd Port Jerome-Gravenchon oil refinery and Notre Dame de Gravenchon (NDG) petrochemical site in France on Sept. 20 before spreading to Fos-Sur-Mer 24 hours later.

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Asahi Kasei Plastics Singapore acquires ISCC PLUS certification

Asahi Kasei Plastics Singapore acquires ISCC PLUS certification

Asahi Kasei Plastics Singapore Pte Ltd (APS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei, acquired the widely recognized international certification ISCC PLUS for its polyphenylene ether (PPE) as a sustainable product on September 19, 2022. Production of PPE using biomass-derived raw material is scheduled to begin in January 2023, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

PPE is an engineering plastic that is blended with other resins such as polystyrene and polyamide to form modified PPE (m-PPE). Asahi Kasei’s Xyron m-PPE is widely used in automotive parts, consumer electronics, and industrial products.

Xyron features several excellent characteristics which are expected to drive further demand growth especially in the field of the environment and energy. For example, leveraging its excellent electrical insulation and other electrical characteristics, Xyron is used in parts for photovoltaic power generation systems which operate at high voltage. These excellent properties also allow products to be made smaller, which contributes to resource conservation. Furthermore, the low specific gravity of Xyron allows products to be made lighter, which contributes to the reduced CO2 emissions during shipment. Xyron is also used in components of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), which are rapidly becoming widespread. Its low specific gravity and flame-retardancy allow batteries to be made lighter, which contributes to increased range and lower CO2 emissions.

As awareness for the global environment and the importance of sustainability increase, Asahi Kasei has worked to further raise the environmental contribution of Xyron m-PPE by using recycled raw material and biomass raw material.

Under these circumstances, Asahi Kasei and APS sought to reduce CO2 emissions across the supply chain for Xyron m-PPE, and in September 2022, APS became the first PPE manufacturer in Asia to acquire ISCC PLUS certification. The certification enables APS to produce and sell PPE using sustainable raw material assigned by the mass-balance method3. APS plans to produce PPE using sustainable raw material beginning in January 2023.

In order to contribute to carbon neutrality, Asahi Kasei is developing recycled grades of Xyron m-PPE which are made using recycled material, and working together with customers to establish a recycling scheme. PPE is a material suitable for recycling as its chemical structure has excellent hydrolysis resistance, which suppresses the deterioration of physical properties. Asahi Kasei also developed and patented technology to extend the service life of Xyron m-PPE, which further suppresses the deterioration of physical properties due to recycling.

The Asahi Kasei Group aims to be a global sustainable partner for its customers by contributing to the reduction of waste and CO2 emissions through the assignment of biomass in the PPE of its Xyron m-PPE by the mass-balance method, the development of products utilizing recycled material, and the establishment of a recycling scheme together with its customers.

We remind, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. announced that it has formed an agreement to acquire the pellicle business of Asahi Kasei Corporation. According to Mitsui Chemical’s Long-Term Business plan VISION 2030, it is aiming with creating and growing a "unique" ICT Solutions business to grow products that will let it create and grow operations here into our third pillar of earnings under the business portfolio transformation.
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