Thyssenkrupp nucera partners with OxyChem to install next-generation chlor-alkali electrolyzers

Thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA (Dortmund, Germany) is partnering with OxyChem to install the latest generation eBiTAC v7 electrolyzers to support the conversion of its Battleground plant in LaPorte, Texas, from the diaphragm to membrane chlor-alkali technology, said Chemengonline.

“The fact that OxyChem has contracted us for the important retrofit of its large chlor-alkali plant makes us very pleased because it demonstrates the great trust and partnership, we have built with OxyChem through our chlor-alkali technology and service,” says Werner Ponikwar, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA.

Thyssenkrupp nucera offers world-class technologies for highly efficient electrolysis plants and supports the conversion of OxyChem’s Battleground plant diaphragm cells. Production and delivery will take approximately three years, and thyssenkrupp nucera will expand its manufacturing facilities to accommodate this significant supply agreement.

“OxyChem has had a long-standing partnership with thyssenkrupp nucera that supports our production of essential commodity chemicals helping elevate the quality of life across the globe”, says Wade Alleman, OxyChem executive vice president of Technology, Business Development & Support. “This multi-year project will modernize our chlor-alkali manufacturing process and increase our production capacity."

In this project, thyssenkrupp nucera was involved in the early stages of project development and supplied the basic design for the core of the chlor-alkali facility. The transformation of the chlor-alkali plant into membrane technology is scheduled to begin in 2023 and is expected to be finished by 2026.

We remind, Thyssenkrupp Uhde and IDESA INDUSTRIAL PLANTS SLU (IDIP) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on developing and fabricating modules for green ammonia projects. The deal will focus on the development of a joint project within the sector for the design, procurement, fabrication and construction of modularised green ammonia plants.

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Roehm plans to attain zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2050, said the company.

To achieve this goal, the company will utilize technological innovation and capital investment to customize its processes to even more environmentally friendly production methods including the use of renewable raw materials and energy, as well as use of recycled materials.

The company's Degalan proTerra product range for the coatings and adhesives industry was made to protect the climate and save resources.

We remind, Roehm announced the opening of its flagship Innovation Center. This “Center of Excellence” is equipped with a state-of-the-art materials development laboratory, featuring advanced processing capabilities for material compounding, injection molding, and extrusion.

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Ahead of the second round of global plastics treaty talks in Paris later this month, the United Nations Environment Programme on May 16 released a road map that said a well-crafted agreement could reduce plastics pollution by 80 percent by 2040, said Sustainableplastics.

UNEP, which is coordinating the treaty negotiations, called for first eliminating "problematic and unnecessary" plastics and then adopting policies like container deposits, producer responsibility and more reusable packaging, along with better recycling systems and "careful" replacement of items like plastic wrappers, sachets and takeaway items.

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen told an online news conference that the report finds that plastic pollution costs the world several hundred billion dollars a year, including from climate impacts of plastics manufacturing, air and water pollution and exposure to hazardous chemicals.

She said the report, "Turning Off the Tap," also suggests steps to help make recycled materials more cost competitive compared with virgin plastics. "As long as virgin plastic is cheaper than recycled, then that becomes an economic dimension that will make us, as a global society, lean back on virgin," she said.

The report looks at levies on virgin materials, which Andersen admits might be a non-starter in some counties, as well as extended producer responsibility programs and container deposits. The U.N. report found that the largest gains could be made toward the 80 percent reduction from policy options like reusables, EPR and bottle deposits. It estimated they could account for a 30 percent drop.

As well, it said building more profitable recycling systems, including removing subsidies for fossil fuels and enforcing design guidelines for recyclability, could account for another 20 percent drop. It estimated those steps could boost the share of economically recyclable plastics from 21 percent to 50 percent.

As well, UNEP estimated that replacing products like plastic wrappers, sachets and takeaway items with alternatives, including paper and compostable packaging, could deliver an additional 17 percent reduction.

Andersen said countries will set their own policies but she hoped the UNEP report can help steer the treaty talks. The second of five negotiating rounds begins May 29 in Paris, with 2,500 diplomats and observers from 170 countries gathering for five days.

"Governments can deliver a strong deal to end plastic pollution," she said. "Businesses [can] ensure innovation and commitment to move away from virgin plastics, starting immediately.

"International financial institutions and other large investors need to move significant investments towards solid waste management and collection systems," Andersen said. "Creative chemical engineers must take a hard look at product design and weed out harmful chemicals and plastics."

The report builds on earlier work by the Pew Charitable Trusts and others. Some environmental groups criticized the U.N. report.

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives said the report appears to support burning plastics in cement kilns, which it said was dangerous because cement production accounts for 8 percent of the world's carbon dioxide. That would also incentivize what it said is continued overproduction of virgin plastics, as fuel for the cement industry.

"Not only does this pose a grave climate and public health threat, it also undermines the primary goal of the global plastic treaty — putting a cap on plastic production," said Neil Tangri, GAIA's science and policy director.

Other environmental groups, including Greenpeace and Oceana, in statements called on UNEP to put more focus on reducing plastic production in the treaty, a position that some consumer product brands and countries are also pushing.

"UNEP's focus on reduction and reuse is the right approach. Recycling and waste management, on the other hand, will continue to be ineffective until producers cut the sheer amount of plastic they are forcing on consumers," said Jackie Savitz, chief policy officer for Oceana.

We remind, around 3.33 million tonnes of plastic waste were recycled or reused as raw materials in Germany in 2019. More than 38 per cent of this was polypropylene (PP). Yet recycling this PP comes with its own set of problems, caused by the fact that due to the sometimes very long polymer chains, the melt flow index of PP derived from the mechanical pre-sorting of various material streams is often too low to allow for further processing via either injection moulding or extrusion.

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Berlin-based extrusion blow molding machine builder Bekum Machinenfabriken GmbH has acquired the pultrusion business unit of the financially struggling systems provider ProtTec Polymer Processing GmbH to move into the fiber-reinforced plastics market, said Sustainableplastics.

Bekum officials said in a news release they are setting a course for further growth with the deal, which includes ProTec Polymer Processing Shanghai — a part of the business unit that sells systems to the Chinese market for producing longer fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (LFT) pellets and compounds.

Pultrusion, or strand drawing, produces LFTs in granulate form for manufacturing lightweight components. Bekum officials said in a news release that the acquisition offers it more opportunities in the auto and electric vehicle markets.

The transaction was completed April 1 but not announced until May 12. No terms were disclosed. The business unit is operating as Bekum Services GmbH with the assembly of new pultrusion lines integrated at the Bekum site in Traismauer, Austria.

"The company was able to retain both the previous technical managing director of ProTec as well as experienced and leading employees from the areas of design, sales and service from ProTec., which was in insolvency," the release said.

The Shanghai site will continue to offer sales and service in China and Asian countries.

We remind, Berry Global Group, Inc., Peel Plastic Products Ltd., and ExxonMobil are working together to integrate International Sustainability and Carbon Certificate (ISCC) PLUS certified-circular plastics into pet food packaging for household brand names. The collaboration leverages ExxonMobil’s ExxtendTM technology for advanced recycling, which processes plastic waste and attributes it to new plastic for food-grade packaging through a mass balance approach.

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McDermott has been awarded a project management consultancy contract from India Oil Corporation Limited for the Maleic Anhydride (MAH) unit at the Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, located 62 miles from New Delhi, India, said Hydrocarbnprocessing.

McDermott's scope includes project management and consultancy services for the unit, including front-end engineering design (FEED), review of engineering activities, construction supervision services, assistance in start-up, pre-commissioning, commissioning, performance guarantee test run and project closure.

"McDermott has a long-standing relationship with IOCL and is currently executing three large-scale projects at their Barauni and Haldia refineries," said Vaseem Khan, McDermott's Senior Vice President, Onshore. "Our unrivaled project management and execution capabilities, combined with our decades of experience in India, uniquely position us to successfully execute this project."

This is India's first mega-scale MAH plant to manufacture chemical products. MAH is used to make specialty products like polyester resins, surface coating plasticizers, agrochemicals and lubricant additives. Other chemicals that will be produced from the plant include Tetra Hydro Furan (THF), which is widely used in adhesives and vinyl film, and Butanediol (BDO), which is used in engineering-grade plastic and biodegradable fibers.

Work on the project will be executed from McDermott's Center of Excellence in Gurugram, India.

We remind, McDermott has been awarded an engineering, procurement services and construction management (EPsCm) contract from Slovnaft, a.s., for the steam cracker intensification off-gas processing project at its plant in Bratislava, Slovakia.

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