Wood and Enterprise settle propane project lawsuit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- John Wood Group has settled a lawsuit brought by Enterprise Products relating to delays on a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) project in Mont Belvieu, Texas, USA, said Chemanager-online.

The UK group said it would pay Enterprise USD115 million in one installment by Nov. 18.

Enterprise filed the lawsuit against Amec Foster Wheeler, a company Wood acquired in 2017, and one of its subsidiaries in Harris County Court, Texas in September 2016. The lawsuit claimed cost increases and delays on a cost-reimbursable plus fixed fee contract secured in July 2013 to engineer, procure and construct the unit.

The PDH plant started operation in early 2018 after Enterprise granted a new contract to Optimized Process Designs to complete the work. Enterprise subsequently decided to build a second PDH unit at Mont Belvieu, which is due to start up in the first half of 2023, producing nearly 750,000 t/y of polymer-grade propylene.

As per MRC, Wood has been awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) scope for Gen2 Energy’s green hydrogen production facility, located in Mosjoen in northern Norway. Gen2 Energy is a Norwegian company dedicated to developing, building, owning and operating an integrated value chain for green hydrogen. The company targets having several large-scale production facilities for green hydrogen, making it easy and cost efficient for consumers to adapt to green hydrogen.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- MEGlobal has nominated its December 2022 monoethylene glycol (MEG) Asian Contract Price (ACP) at USD800/tonne, down by USD10/tonne from the November ACP, a company source said.

The price is on a CFR (cost and freight) Asia basis. Asia MEG market has fallen into a standstill amid the cost pressure and slowing demand with very limited discussions heard in the market towards the lull year-end demand season.

MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD810/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival November 2022. The November 2022 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Milliken & Company, a diversified global manufacturer with more than 70 locations worldwide, will use this fall’s K 2022 trade fair to introduce our latest DeltaFlow™ Viscosity Modifier for recycled polypropylene (rPP), based on latest viscosity-modification chemistry, said the company.

At the K Show in Dusseldorf from October 19-26, we’ll be showing our broad portfolio of plastic additives and colorants, but these new grades of DeltaFlow deserve special attention. All our viscosity modifiers are solid concentrates designed to specifically help polypropylene (PP) recyclers by increasing the melt flow rate of rPP for injection molding processes. This serves to reduce energy use, enhance circularity and advance our goal of creating a healthier future.

Our newly developed DeltaFlow grades use the latest viscosity-modification chemistry. The technology also has lower volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and improved organoleptics and could nicely complement the advances being made in recycling machinery, according to Allan Randall, Global Product Line Manager. As communicated earlier this year, as an additional sign of our commitment to the recycling industry, Milliken is further expanding production capacity in our German manufacturing plant by 60 percent.

Recycled polypropylene – encompassing recyclers, compounders, converters, and brand owners – is the key target market for this product. DeltaFlow-optimized resins allow for lower processing temperatures, which can enable converters to significantly reduce processing temperatures, reduce energy use, boost productivity and improve processability.

Brand owners stand to benefit, as well. DeltaFlow enables rPP to feasibly replace virgin resin in many end-use applications. This allows brands to use more rPP in their products, thereby helping them to meet their sustainability goals.

“Demand in the market for recycled content is only increasing,” noted Randall. “These products enhance the properties of rPP and make it more suitable for more applications, thereby helping to close the loop in more end uses. Our goal is to enable more and better utilization of rPP. This product line helps to deliver on that promise.”

Milliken is the only company offering this latest viscosity-modification chemistry in an easy-to-handle, non-dusting, solid concentrate form for the recycling market. “Our initial focus will be on Europe, but we intend to offer these DeltaFlow options globally,” Randall added.

We remind, Milliken, an American polymer additives and coloring company, has launched a new masterbatch plant to increase the clarity of polypropylene (PP) in Blacksburg, South Carolina, USA. The plant will increase the company's masterbatch capacity by 50% to increase the clarity of Millad NX 8000 polypropylene (PP).

Milliken & Company is a diversified company that has been in business since 1865. The corporate headquarters is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The company operates in a wide variety of areas: the chemical industry, flooring, performance and protective textiles, and healthcare.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Energy announced that it is in full swing to cooperate with Doosan Fuel Cell to establish the on-site hybrid energy stations that utilize fuel cells (Tri-gen) which can generate hydrogen, energy, and heat simultaneously, said Koreaittimes.

On-site is a system that generates hydrogen and directly uses it for charging. SK Energy, the oil business subsidiary of SK Innovation, signed a business agreement with Doosan Fuel Cell regarding “demonstration of hydrogen generation and utilization via linkage of hydrogen fuel cells and high-purity hydrogen production system” on November 21 (KST).

This agreement is a more concretized version of the MOU for “Joint development and industrialization of technologies to utilize rechargeable hydrogen fuel cells,” formerly signed by the two companies in August 2021. The agreement consists of the roles and responsibilities of the two companies: SK Energy takes charge of the provision, operation, and maintenance of its independently developed high-purity hydrogen production system, while Doosan Fuel Cell provides, installs, and maintains the Tri-gen, which can generate hydrogen, energy, and heat all at once using fuel cells. SK Energy is also to demonstrate the high-purity hydrogen production system linked with Tri-gen.

Both companies plan to finish the demonstration of the production system that can generate 99.99% high-purity hydrogen, as well as the recharging facility, in the first half of 2023. After that, they will establish a commercialized on-site hybrid energy station where both electric and hydrogen vehicles can be charged simultaneously.

A hydrogen charging station can generate approximately 1 ton of hydrogen per day, which is enough to recharge 200 hydrogen passenger cars or 30 hydrogen-powered trucks. At the same time, it is possible to charge EVs using the energy generated from Tri-gen, which opens the possibility of establishing hybrid charging stations once the applicable laws, such as the Electric Utility Act, etc., are amended.

Both companies are to cooperate step by step to expand hydrogen charging stations by 2026. Tri-gen, developed by Doosan Fuel Cell, utilizes 440 kW phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC). It has many advantages, such as a cost-competitive hydrogen supply for charging, a resilient response to the need for hydrogen for mobility, convenient charging for EVs, etc.

On the other hand, the high-purity hydrogen production system developed by SK Energy can generate 99.99% high-purity hydrogen out of low-purity hydrogen. The facility also has a lot of advantages, such as the miniaturization suitable for small on-site stations, reduction of operation costs, efficient operation through automatic control, a high recovery rate of hydrogen, and more. The technology that increases the purity of hydrogen to 99.99% is essential to charge hydrogen vehicles with the hydrogen generated by Tri-gen.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, South Korea's SK Global Chemical shut its small No. 1 naphtha-fed steam cracker in Ulsan permanently on Dec. 10, 2020, due to aging-related issues. The No. 1 steam cracker was able to produce 200,000 mt/year of ethylene and 140,000 mt/year of propylene. The company will keep normal operations of its No. 2 steam cracker at the same location. The No. 2 unit is able to produce 660,000 mt/year of ethylene, 350,000 mt/year of propylene and 110,000 mt/year of butadiene.

SK energy began in 1962 as Korea Oil Corporation, the first oil refinery in the country. The company has since contributed to national economic development by producing, exporting, and distributing petroleum products. SK energy's Ulsan Complex can process up to 840,000 barrels of crude oil per day, supplying petroleum products to both domestic and international markets.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Uzbekistan’s MTO (Methanol to Olefin) Gas Chemical Complex Central Asia LLC has officially named Enter Engineering Pte Ltd as the EPC contractor for its project, Trend reports via the press service of the company.

The advanced methanol-to-olefin complex will be an anchor enterprise in a newly created Free Economic Zone in Karakul, Bukhara region. GCC MTO is wholly owned by Sanoat Energetika Guruhi LLC, Uzbekistan’s largest private oil and gas producer.

Enter Engineering Pte Ltd is the leading EPC contractor in Uzbekistan with wide experience in heading major industrial and infrastructure projects. The $3-billion contract covers the design, purchase of equipment and construction of facilities, together with essential infrastructure. Completion of the project is expected in late 2025.

Enter Engineering was selected based on its unique expertise and many years of experience in the oil and gas sector and industrial construction in Central Asia. Uzbekistan GTL, Kandym gas processing complex, a fuel filling complex in Tashkent and other landmark projects are among those which have been implemented by the company.

Based on a decision of the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the project has been designed in line with international norms and standards. The project is an example of global cooperation between local and foreign specialists using the latest achievements in the oil and gas sector. The list of companies working on the MTO GCC project includes John Wood Group Plc (UK), Topsoe (Denmark), Koch Industries Inc. (US), Chemtex Global Corp. (US), Scientific Design (US), Versalis (Italy), Sinopec (China) and Grace Catalysts Technologies (US).

The MTO gas chemical complex will become the largest enterprise of its type in Central Asia, with a capacity of 730,000 tons per year, which will satisfy the local demand for raw materials for the production of goods with high added value. The facility will manufacture four types of products: polypropylene, low-density polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate and polyethylene terephthalate. The last three will be produced in the country for the first time.

We remind, the capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex will triple, investments in the expansion project will amount to USD1.8 billion. Uzbekneftegaz has launched a project to expand the Shurtan gas chemical complex in the Kashkadarya region in the south of the country. "The capacities of the Shurtan gas chemical complex, the firstborn of our gas chemical region, will triple," said President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the expansion project.

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