Sasol Chemicals to provide complimentary catalysts for Interatec synthetic-fuels plant in Frankfurt

Sasol Chemicals to provide complimentary catalysts for Interatec synthetic-fuels plant in Frankfurt

Sasol Chemicals will deliver a first fill of its latest Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalyst free of charge to Ineratec, in one of several recent commitments to promising renewable projects, said Chenegonline.

The FT catalyst will be used in the lighthouse project the Karlsruhe-based clean tech company is currently building at Industriepark Hoechst near Frankfurt, Germany.

The project is based on the company’s recent operational success at industrial demonstration scale. According to Ineratec, the new facilities will become the largest production plant for paraffinic synthetic fuels in the world. The plant’s output is estimated to reach up to 2,500 tons per year, starting as early as 2023. The catalyst provided by Sasol Chemicals will make a significant contribution to produce high amounts of the target products, which is largely designated for refinement into Sustainable Aviation Fuels. “Synthetic fuels are a cornerstone in the global challenge to reach our climate goals,” said Ineratec co-founder and General Manager, Philipp Engelkamp. “Our goal is to quickly build up production capacities. Together with our partners, we want to over succeed the required quota for SAF in 2030.” Ineratec plans to develop the technology on a global scale and will invest over 30 million Euros in this first plant alone. The German Government also strongly supports the project and provides funding of around 6 million euros within a funding program of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.

“We are in the fortunate position to aid our partners in pushing the envelope when it comes to synthetic fuels,” Dr. Dirk Schar, Manager Technical Marketing at Sasol Chemicals, has commented. “Sasol’s high-grade products are an integral part of many chemical processes. By making commitments such as this one, we are assisting others to realise what we ourselves have chosen as our mission for Sasol Chemicals: Innovating for a better world!”

We remind, Sasol announced that its world-scale U.S. ethane cracker has reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol’s new cracker, the heart of its Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to six new derivative units at Sasol’s Lake Charles multi-asset site.

mrchub.com

RePEaT licenses polyester chemical recycling tech to Zhejiang Jianxin

RePEaT licenses polyester chemical recycling tech to Zhejiang Jianxin

RePEaT Co has signed a deal to license its chemical recycling technology for polyester products to China's Zhejiang Jianxin Jiaren New Materials Co, parent firm Teijin said.

RePEaT is a joint venture established by Japanese firms Teijin, JGC Holdings Corp and ITOCHU Corp to license recycling technology based on Teijin’s expertise in dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), Teijin said in a statement.

"RePEaT will provide a technology that uses the organic compound DMT for the chemical decomposition, conversion and then repolymerisation of polyester (PET)," the company said.

"Zhejiang Jianxin will use the technology in a polyester-product recycling plant it plans to start up in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province next year," it added.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

We remind, Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., the Teijin Group’s fibers and products converting company, announced that its core base for polyester fiber manufacturing, Teijin Polyester (Thailand) Limited (TPL), launched a cutting-edge automated facility for the highly efficient production of polyester filaments.

mrchub.com

Russia diverts diesel exports to Africa, Asia after EU embargo

Russia diverts diesel exports to Africa, Asia after EU embargo

Russia has diverted its diesel export supplies to Africa and Asia, as well for ship-to-ship (STS) loadings in February, as embargo closed the European markets for Russian-origin fuel, according to traders and Refinitiv data, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Russia has long been the main diesel supplier for Europe, where refineries do not produce enough fuel to meet domestic demand from its large diesel car fleet. A full EU embargo on Russian oil products went into effect on Feb. 5.

According to Refinitiv shipping data, the main bulk of low-sulfur diesel and gasoil cargoes from the Russian Black Sea ports Tuapse and Novorossiisk are heading towards Turkey, as well as to Oman, Togo and Tunisia.

Russian Black Sea ports enjoyed Turkey's market proximity for diesel supplies even before, while exporters from Baltic port Primorsk and Vysotsk had to replace European destinations with much longer trips, boosting the freight cost. "Ship owners are probably the main beneficiaries of all this situation owing to the long routes and high freight rates", one trader said.

Since the start of February Russia diverts low-sulfur diesel volumes from its Baltic ports to Morocco, Algeria, Ghana, Tunisia and Brazil. Also two cargoes carrying about 130,000 of diesel are heading from the port of Primorsk to the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Refinitiv data showed.

Some cargoes were destined with sort of opaque nomination like "Gibraltar on order", "Ceuta on order" or even just "on order", according to Refinitiv shipping data. Traders consider such nominations either having no buyer or booked for discharging to another ship. European countries replace Russian diesel supplies increasing imports from India, Saudi Arabia, China, Kuwait, Malaysia and even Togo.

We remind, U.S. diesel prices have dropped this month and could go lower, analysts said, an unexpected swoon that coincided with the start of a British and European Union ban on Russian fuel imports. The falling demand behind the price drop has allowed the United States to rebuild stocks, especially along the East Coast where scarce supplies six months ago raised prospects of curbs on U.S. exports. Lower prices could ease inflation worries that have occupied investors.

mrchub.com

Univar expands portfolio in Latin America

Univar expands portfolio in Latin America

Univar Solutions Brasil Ltda., a subsidiary of Univar Solutions Inc., a leading global solutions provider to users of specialty ingredients and chemicals, announced a distribution agreement with SI Group for Ibuprofen, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) used to produce ibuprofen drugs for the pharmaceutical market, said the company.

"Our strategic relationship with SI Group provides customers in Brazil access to a robust portfolio of innovative specialty ingredients and supply products in significant demand in the Brazilian market. We're proud to team up with a supplier who is also passionate about working at the intersection of science and technology to deliver products that help keep communities healthy and safe," said James Peterson, global vice president of pharmaceutical ingredients for Univar Solutions.

"Univar Solutions proudly serves pharmaceutical manufacturers and formulators focused on delivering advanced, science-based pharmaceutical solutions, offering the ingredients they seek for critically important health care products," said Jorge Buckup, president of Latin America for Univar Solutions. "Together with SI Group, we're better able to help customers formulate next-generation products, work to improve time to market, and achieve sustainable solutions through ingredients and innovations."

"SI Group is thrilled to grow our partnership with Univar Solutions, a global leader in ingredient and specialty distribution with deep expertise and a reliable, resilient network and supply chain solutions," said Cathryn D. Estes, senior director of pharmaceuticals and global distribution for SI Group. "Together, we can leverage our ingredients and services and bring our Brazilian customers the ingredients and products they need to grow and serve their markets."

With the recent increase in demand for over-the-counter analgesics, the addition of Ibuprofen to Univar Solutions' ingredients portfolio in Brazil will provide pharmaceutical manufacturers with an important source of supply. Combined with a team of industry experts, a global network of pharmaceutical compliant facilities, and Solution Centers staffed by technical experts, Univar Solutions offers pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers and suppliers support for their pharmaceutical, ophthalmic, nutraceutical, biopharma, animal health and medical device applications.

We remind, Univar Solutions BV, a subsidiary of Univar Solutions Inc, a leading global solutions provider to users of speciality ingredients and chemicals, announced that the company has been appointed as distributor for Marott Graphic Services (MGS Chemistry Group) unique rust protection additives for inks, coatings, rust prevention oils, and lubricants and metalworking fluids in Europe. The new agreement between the two companies includes additives for oils, lubricants, and coatings in the TINSCO range of rust inhibitors.

mrchub.com

Consortium produces pipes made of chemically recycled cross-linked PE

Consortium produces pipes made of chemically recycled cross-linked PE

Neste, Uponor, Wastewise and Borealis have successfully produced pipes made of cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) which was based on feedstock gained from chemically recycled post-industrial waste plastic from PEX pipe production, using an ISCC PLUS certified mass-balancing approach, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The partner companies believe this project is among the first implementations of chemical recycling of PEX. PEX pipes are an important contributor to energy efficient heating and safe plumbing due to their robustness, temperature resistance and longevity, yet the interconnected polymer chains make them nearly impossible to recycle with conventional recycling technologies. The project shows that chemical recycling can close the circularity loop for hard-to-recycle waste plastic, turning it into high-quality polymers feedstock and enabling the consecutive manufacturing of products with quality and properties identical to those in their previous life.

The cooperation sees Wastewise use their novel pyrolysis-based chemical recycling technology to liquefy industrial waste from Uponor’s PEX pipe production, breaking the polymers down back into their building blocks, which creates an oil-like recycled intermediate. This liquid is then co-processed in Neste’s oil refinery in Porvoo, Finland and upgraded into recycled Neste RE™, a high-quality drop-in feedstock for the production of new polymers. Borealis is feeding this raw material into their steam cracker and consequently polymerizing it into polyethylene as part of the company’s Borcycle™ C, chemical recycling portfolio. Finally, Uponor is using the polyethylene to create new PEX pipe systems, which can then be used in the construction sector for heating, plumbing and cooling purposes once more – eligible even for sensitive applications with high requirements, for example those used for drinking water systems. The whole value chain is traceable via ISCC PLUS certified mass-balancing.

“We are very excited about this collaboration as it gives us a head start on our transition to circular materials,” says Thomas Fuhr, Chief Technology Officer at Uponor. “PEX is by far the material that has the most versatile application uses, from building water supply systems to efficient radiant heating and cooling systems, thanks to its superior properties for the construction industry. At Uponor we have just celebrated the first 50 years of our PEX piping, and now our new long-term goal is to use 100% of our PEX waste as raw material through closed loop recycling.”

“Hard-to-recycle waste plastic as input and high-quality polymers as output are not in contradiction anymore,” says John Webster, Global Commercial Director Infrastructure at Borealis. “In fact, we are able to integrate chemically recycled PEX pipe waste plastic as a raw material into our established manufacturing processes. It doesn’t require additional tests, approvals or validation. It’s a drop-in solution ready to use even for drinking water applications.”

“The successful project demonstrates not only that recycling of PEX is possible via chemical recycling, but it also shows that it’s actually possible with high yields: some 80% of the PEX production waste can be added back to the circle,” says Kaisa Suvilampi, Managing Director and Partner at Wastewise. “Through our processes, we were able to turn PEX into pyrolysis oil of sufficient quality to use it as input for a refinery, which in turn can process it into a high quality cracker feed. This project strikes certain PEX off from the list of materials giving recyclers a headache.”

“The curtain is opening for chemical recycling,” added Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste. “It will still take time to reach large-scale operations, but this project is providing the blueprint for circular value chains for polymers via chemically recycling. It’s pushing the technology from the promise to the delivery phase. Further, it shows the importance of bringing the right partners together to cooperate.”

Due to the involved parties’ commitment to pushing circular solutions for polymers and the solution’s drop-in character, the partners were able to establish the value chain in a rather short period of time. Little more than six months passed between the start of the project and the production of the first pipes made with chemically recycled PEX waste.

The partnership holds potential for further cooperation beyond production waste: The PEX pipes made by Uponor have already been optimized from a resource efficiency point of view by reducing their wall thickness and increasing lifetime. At the end of their long life, mechanical recycling is so far the first recycling option, but it also means downcycling the materials, e.g. into other construction materials or items such as hockey sticks. With chemical recycling, though, the PEX waste pipes can be turned into fully functional PEX pipes again. Moving forward, the partners will evaluate further opportunities for cooperation. Aside from broadening the waste material pool, this may also include higher recycled volumes.

We remind, Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions, and a European front-runner in polyolefins recycling; and VERBUND, Austria’s leading energy company, announce that they have signed a ten-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply hydropower to Borealis operations in Schwechat, Austria, starting in January of 2023.

mrchub.com