Lummus and Citroniq sign letter of intent for green polypropylene projects

Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, and Citroniq Chemicals, a world-scale producer of carbon-negative materials, announced that the two companies have signed a letter of intent (LOI) for the development of Citroniq's green polypropylene (PP) projects in North America, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

These projects will use Lummus' Verdene PP technology suite. "Lummus is honored to collaborate with Citroniq to bring this innovative and sustainable technology to market, which will facilitate further decarbonization of our industry," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "Lummus is the global leader in licensing PP technology, and we can serve as a launch pad for Citroniq's green, carbon-negative PP to meet the growing demand for products using sustainable materials."

"Together, Citroniq and Lummus are creating the first world-scale sustainable bio-polypropylene production process in North America," said Kelly Knopp, Principal and Co-Founder of Citroniq Chemicals. "The first plant will sequester about 1.2 MM tons of CO2 annually as solid polypropylene pellets, providing customers an impactful solution for reducing their carbon footprint and meeting their ESG goals."

"With a projected investment of over USD5 B and a combined PP annual capacity of over 3.5 billion pounds, Citroniq is prepared to execute a rapid expansion plan of its E2O process, to meet the market's growing need for sustainable, carbon negative polypropylene at a competitive price," said Mel Badheka, Principal and Co-Founder of Citroniq Chemicals. "Located in the Midwest, Citroniq's first plant is scheduled to start production in 2026 and provide identical, drop-in products that can be directly certified as biogenic through physical testing."

We remind, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced an integrated technology award from SP Chemicals and its subsidiary SP Olefins. SP Chemicals will license Lummus' CATOFIN technology for a new 800 KTA propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit, and SP Olefins will license Lummus' Novolen technology for a new 400 KTA polypropylene (PP) unit. Both units will be located at SP Chemicals' complex in Jiangsu Province, China.

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Covestro has developed a new PC grade containing 90% recyclate derived from post-consumer waste. The carbon footprint of the new Makrolon grade is claimed to be 70% lower than that of a comparable fossil-based virgin plastic, the company said.

The new grade is the latest member of Covestro’s CQ portfolio of circular solutions and is initially available only in the Asia-Pacific region. Calling it a ‘breakthrough solution’, Lily Wang, global head of the Engineering Plastics segment at Covestro, said the material was suitable for, among other applications, consumer electronics.

“It will enable our customers to achieve their sustainability goals faster,” she explained. “This is especially true for industries such as consumer electronics and audio and networking equipment manufacturers, which have ambitious sustainability goals of their own."

By selecting high-quality recyclates and optimising the material composition during the compounding process, excellent whiteness and highly saturated colours - both of which are typically a challenge for PCR plastics with high recycled content - are achievable. The PCR grade is manufactured with halogen-free flame retardants that meet performance requirements without increasing environmental impact. It also meets the highest V-0 rating of Underwriters Laboratories' UL 94 flammability standards.

To meet rising demand, Covestro is currently building a dedicated compounding plant for PCR polycarbonates at its integrated site in Shanghai. Commissioning is scheduled for later this year, after which it will be able to supply more than 25,000 metric tons of high-quality PCR polycarbonates annually.

Next to mechanical recycling, Covestro is also working on the further advancement of mass-balanced polycarbonates based on feedstock from biowaste and residual materials, certified to the internationally recognised ISCC PLUS standard. These materials offer a lower carbon footprint but the same quality and performance as their fossil-based counterparts. Already, various Makrolon RE polycarbonates are available featuring a renewable attributed raw material content of up to 89%. The RE series is also part of the CQ portfolio. And at the end of 2021, the first climate-neutral polycarbonates were supplied by Covestro to customers in Europe. The mass-balanced products demonstrate an identical good quality and performance as fossil-based polycarbonates and offer an out-of-the-box solution for customers with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

We remind, Covestro successfully started up a new world-scale facility for the production of chlorine in Tarragona, Spain. It is the first world-scale production plant for chlorine based upon the highly innovative and energy efficient ODC (oxygen depolarized cathode) technology invented by Covestro and its partners.

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Groningen, the Netherlands-based BioBTX B.V., a company that has developed proprietary technology enabling the production of renewable aromatics from waste, and chemical recycling company Agilyx have announced a new collaboration aimed at the further scale up of BioBTX’ technology, said the company.

The two partners are planning a commercial demonstration plant - BioBTX's first - based on a combination of Agilyx pyrolysis technology and BioBTX’s catalytic technology to explore the production of renewable aromatic chemicals (benzene, toluene, xylene, or BTX).

Agilyx's technology enables the processing of difficult-to-recycle post consumer waste plastics, producing pyrolysis vapours that BioBTX’s catalytic technology then converts into aromatic chemicals.
The integration of these two technologies will yield a high quality BTX product, meeting the demanding specifications of the chemical industry whilst also converting difficult to recycle plastic waste streams.

Aromatic chemicals are fundamental building blocks of the chemical industry. With a market size of approximately EUR200 billion per year, growing to EUR 500 billion or more in 2050 the potential is enormous. They are used to produce everything from drugs to nylon clothing and key elements of the green energy transition like wind turbine blades.

The deal is a 'first of its kind' collaboration in Europe between Agilyx and BioBTX to produce renewable aromatic chemicals in the Benelux region and, noted Tim Stedman, CEO of Agilyx, who called it a significant milestone for chemical recycling.

“We are thrilled to bring these two technologies together for this innovative collaboration,” he said.
The announcement comes as the EU pushes ahead with its Circular Economy Action Plan which seeks to address the interface between chemicals, products, and waste legislation.

We remind, KBR, Inc. (Houston) announced it has been awarded an engineering and design services contract from The Chemours Co. (Wilmington, Del.) to increase capacity and advance technology for its industry-leading Nafion ion-exchange materials platform.

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Ineos Group Holdings has reported unaudited EBITDA of EUR444 million in the first quarter, down from EUR995 million a year earlier but up sequentially from EUR392 million in the previous quarter, said the company.

The company has continued to focus on cash management and liquidity, with net debt of approximately €7.0 billion at the end of March, it said. Cash balances at the end of the quarter were EUR2.64 billion, with availability under undrawn working capital facilities at EUR682 million, it said.

Ineos’ North American olefins and polymers (O&P) business achieved first-quarter EBITDA of EUR191 million, falling from EUR450 million in the prior-year period. Earnings were impacted adversely in January by a tornado that struck the firm’s site at Battleground, Texas, leading to an estimated earnings hit of approximately EUR55 million, it said in a trading update. Ethylene markets in the quarter were “generally weaker with lower demand, improved industry supply availability and reduced export opportunities,” it said. Polymer markets were softer with erosion of margins for most products in the quarter, although pipe markets remained healthy, it said, mirroring similar market comments issued by Ineos for the fourth quarter.

In Europe, Ineos’s O&P business reported quarterly EBITDA of EUR90 million, declining from EUR210 million a year earlier. Markets for olefins were also “generally weaker with most industry crackers being trimmed across Europe. Propylene markets were long with weak demand across most derivatives due to high energy costs,” it said. European polymer markets were also weaker, with reduced demand and increased levels of imports, it added, again reflecting comments similar to those issued by the company for the prior quarter.

In March, Ineos completed its previously announced acquisition of Mitsui’s phenol business in Singapore for approximately USD330 mln.

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Mitsubishi Chemical UK has confirmed the closure of its methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant at Billingham (Cassel), UK, said the company.

The decision comes following a period of over two months of collective consultation with its employees. The company stated in a press release in November announcing its consultation that the “economic sustainability of UK manufacturing operation of methacrylates in an increasingly competitive global market cannot be achieved”.

The MMA plant had been offline since January 2022, initially for a planned maintenance shutdown. Since then, the impact of soaring and volatile natural gas prices because of the war in Ukraine, a “significant downturn in the European economy as a result of high inflation” and underlying weak demand in the MMA market has seen this shutdown extended.

The Billingham plant has a capacity of 200,000 tonnes/year, began operating in 1930 and produces methacrylic acid and higher methacrylates.

We remind, Mitsubishi Chemical Group (the MCG Group) announces that it will start verification testing of a scheme for collecting acrylic resins from end-of-life vehicles, with the goal of commercializing molecular recycling operations for acrylic resin in collaboration with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. and ABT Corporation1.

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