Air Liquide invests electrifying two ASUs in Tianjin, China

Air Liquide will invest around EUR60m to electrify two of its air separation units (ASUs) in Tianjin, China, the industrial gases major said.

The investment follows the renewal of a long-term supply contract with Tianjian Bohua Yongli Chemical Industry (YLC) in a bid to cut carbon emissions from the site. The ASUs will provide oxygen and other gases to the Bohua-group subsidiary so that production can be run on electrical power instead of steam.

This will result in a 370,000 tonne/year reduction in CO2 emissions with the units having capacity of 4,000 tonnes/day of oxygen, scheduled to come online by mid-2024. Other companies operating in the Tianjin industrial basin will also be supplied with gases from the electrified ASUs.

Work on the units will be carried out by Air Liquide Engineering & Construction without any disruption to supply. In addition, the two firms will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tianjin Binhai District for the implementation of Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage (CCUS) solutions.

The project also includes the possible supply of low carbon energy units through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) that are currently under discussion, which would allow further emission reductions in the future.

Air Liquide has operated in the Tianjin basin for more than 20 years, supplying both local and international chemical companies operating in the region.

The French major owns and operates four production sites and a large pipeline system connecting the Lingang, Dagang, and Nangang industrial parks.

We remind, Air Liquide is building an oxygen production unit onsite for European glass packaging producer Verallia to reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption. A new oxygen production unit will be built and operated by Air Liquide onsite at Verallia’s plant in Pescia, Italy to melt glass via oxy-combustion instead of injecting air into the furnace, increasing efficiency. The new oxygen unit will also be equipped with a unique cryogenic process and will be 10% ore energy efficient than the previous generation.

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Dutch specialty chemicals and coatings company Stahl has acquired ICP Industrial Solutions Group. a US-based coatings producer for packaging and labelling applications, said the company.

The acquisition reinforces Stahl’s position in specialty coatings for flexible substrates, it said in a statement on Thursday.

ICP’s industrial coating technologies would enable Stahl to support customers in their transition to more sustainable packaging, it added.

Itasca, Illinois-based ICP had sales of USD140m in 2022. The acquisition price was not disclosed.

We remind, Stahl, an active proponent of responsible chemistry, is to offer a dedicated portfolio of low-impact, high-performance adhesive and bonding solutions. As an initial step, Stahl will introduce three dedicated adhesive products, under the RelcaBond® brand name, designed primarily for customers operating in the automotive sector, as well as other markets.

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Perstorp has launched new grades for two base polyols that are now available with 100% renewable, mass-balanced carbon content, said the company.

When including the biogenic CO2uptake1 from the renewable raw materials, the products will have a negative carbon footprint at the Perstorp gate. Based on a traceable mass-balance concept, Neeture™ N100 (neopentyl glycol) and Evyron™ T100 (trimethylolpropane) are designed to reduce the carbon footprint2 throughout the value chain and to support the sustainable sourcing of renewable and recycled raw materials.

This portfolio expansion reinforces the company’s position as a leading supplier of low carbon footprint chemicals, which began in 2010 with the introduction of Voxtar™, the world’s first pentaerythritol based on renewable carbon content. With the addition of these new grades, Perstorp can offer the industry’s lowest product carbon footprint for each of their base polyols (TMP, Neo, Penta). This marks an exciting milestone that enables future-proofing by phasing out virgin fossil raw materials for a wide range of applications in the market segments of resins, coatings, and synthetic lubricants.

Neeture™ and Evyron™, along with all Perstorp’s Pro-Environment products are certified according to the sustainability certification system ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification). ISCC PLUS provides companies, brand owners, and consumers the assurance that high sustainability requirements are met. The products, the mass balance, as well as the annually updated and audited product carbon footprint calculations are all ISCC PLUS certified.

Perstorp applies a mass balance with physical and chemical traceability which means that no credit transfer is applied and that all the different raw materials needed to produce the products are used. To produce Neeture N100 and Evyron T100, ISCC-certified biogas, methanol and propylene based on either bio or bio-circular origin are used. Being ISCC PLUS certified means that all sustainable raw materials are ISCC PLUS or ISCC EU certified in all parts of the value chain all the way back to the point of origin. The Pro-Environment products provide customers with an identical quality and performance as the fossil alternatives, but with the added benefit of an improved environmental profile.

We remind, Perstorp moves to make more eco-friendly polyols at Swedish site. Perstorp, a Sweden-based speciality chemicals provider, is transforming a huge majority of the polyols generated at their largest production facility in Perstorp, Sweden, to 'Pro-Environment' products. It will convert all base polyols prepared at its Perstorp unit - neopentyl glycol (Neo), pentaerythritol (Penta), and trimethylolpropane (TMP) - to 'Pro-Environment'.

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ExxonMobil Corp has started up its long-planned project to expand light crude oil processing capacity by 250,000 b/d at ExxonMobil Product Solutions Co's integrated refining and petrochemicals complex along the US Gulf Coast in Beaumont, TX, US, said the company.

Officially in operation as of 16 Mar 2023, the USD2 bn Beaumont expansion-completed on time and within budget despite difficulties posed by outbreak of the global pandemic following start of project construction in 2019-increases the refinery's overall crude processing capacity to more than 630,000 b/d, the operator said. Proposed in 2018 and formally approved in early 2019, the expansion added a third crude unit and hydrotreaters to accommodate the operator's growing Permian light crude production, to which the refinery is linked via pipeline.

ExxonMobil said the Beaumont refinery's new crude unit also will be well-positioned to further capitalize on segregated crude from the Permian's Delaware basin. Delaware production will be delivered via the ExxonMobil Pipeline Co-operated 650-mile, 36-inWink-to-Webster (W2W) pipeline that delivers to Webster, Baytown, and the Enterprise Crude Houston Oil terminal, in addition to providing connectivity to Texas City and Beaumont. An ExxonMobil spokesperson told OGJ the Beaumont refinery also has completed connecting pipeline additions at the site to accommodate the expansion's increased intake and offtake of crude and finished products, respectively.

Technip Energies (formerly TechipFMC PLC) provided engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of four units added as part of the expansion-including an atmospheric pipe still, kerosine hydrotreater, diesel hydrotreater, and benzene recovery unit-while KBR Inc delivered EPC services for the project offsites and interconnecting units. In its earnings presentation for 4Q 2022 and preliminary results for end-2022, ExxonMobil said it increased year-over-year net production from the Permian by about 90,000 boe/d to about 550,000-560,000 boe/d, with overall production from its regional operations anticipated to reach more than 600,000 boe/d during 2023.

By 2027, the operator said it plans to grow Permian output to about 1 M boe/d amid ongoing improvements in capital efficiency, lower costs, higher resource recovery, and better environmental performance. ExxonMobil confirmed that by end-4Q 2022 it had eliminated routine flaring from its Permian operations by 100% as part of the company's efforts to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the region by 2030.

We remind, ExxonMobil awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract to Technip Energies for a blue hydrogen project at its complex in Baytown, Texas. ExxonMobil described the contract as the largest of its kind in the world. The company could make a final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2024. If ExxonMobil proceeds, it could start operations in 2027-2028. Financial details were not disclosed.

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Sika is to divest some admixtures assets to investment fund Cinven after the UK’s competition authority showed “concerns” about the initially-planned divestment to INEOS, said the company.

Sika is in the process to acquire construction chemicals peer MBCC, a process it hopes to conclude in the first half of 2023. In January, it said it was to divest to INEOS some admixtures assets coming from MBCC in the UK, the US, Canada and Europe.

However, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) told Sika it had concerns about the levels of market concentration the divestment to European chemicals major INEOS could have in the markets. “The parties [Sika and INEOS] therefore agreed to terminate the contract, while Sika has agreed to sell the ‘disposal perimeter’ [the assets] to international private equity firm Cinven,” said Sika.

“The CMA has already approved Cinven as a suitable buyer of the disposal perimeter. Financial and transaction parameters remain largely unchanged." According to Sika, the assets to be divested now to Cinven generated sales of Swiss francs (Swfr) 920m (USD1.0bn) in 2022.

They include production sites and sales offices in 36 countries with more than 1,600 employees.

We remind, Sika has agreed to sell Aliva Equipment, a Swiss unit supplying machines for the application of shotcrete, to Normet Group Oy, a Finnish global company providing solutions for underground construction, said the company.
In 2021, Aliva Equipment generated sales of CHF 12 million.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories.

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