Johnson Matthey Technology to produce bio-degradable plastics in China

Fujian Zhongjing Petrochemical Group has selected Johnson Matthey’s latest butanediol technology to produce 600,000 metric tonnes of bio-degradable plastics annually, said Process-worldwide.

This plastic can be used in compostable packaging and decomposes. As China accelerates its efforts to phase out single-use plastics in a bid to tackle pollution, Johnson Matthey will provide Fujian Zhongjing Petrochemical Group, with the latest butanediol (BDO) technology – a crucial component to produce bio-degradable plastics (PBAT). Three separate BDO plants will be built in phases. Using Johnson Matthey’s BDO technology, Fujian Zhongjing is expected to produce 600,000 metric tonnes of PBAT, per year – making this the largest contract in the world for this technology.

This bio-degradable plastic is used in compostable packaging and decomposes due to naturally occurring microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria.

Dr. Mark Su, President, Greater China at Johnson Matthey, says: “As plastic waste is such an issue, a plastic alternative, such as PBAT, could be one of the best solutions available to tackle plastic pollution. With decades of experience in this technology, it’s encouraging to see the positive impact it can have in creating a cleaner world.”

We remind, Johnson Matthey (JM) and bp announced that their co-developed, award-winning Fischer Tropsch (FT) CANS technology has been selected by Strategic Biofuels for their project which aims to produce the world’s lowest carbon footprint liquid fuel.

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India's fuel consumption surged in May with diesel sales scaling a record high, buoyed by strong factory activity in the third-largest oil consumer in the world, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

India's factory output expanded at the quickest pace since October 2020 last month at a time when regional peers such as China, Japan and South Korea have seen their manufacturers struggle for prolonged periods.

Sales of diesel, mainly used by trucks and commercially run passenger vehicles, increased around 5.1% in May to an all-time high of 8.22 million tons from a month earlier, as per PPAC data going back until 1998.

The higher manufacturing boosted purchasing activity and lifted trucking demand, said Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler, adding diesel demand also got a fillip from agriculture, particularly rice and wheat, with most harvesting done in April-May.

India's delayed monsoons also supported diesel consumption by translating into better construction activity overall, Katona said. Fuel consumption, a proxy for oil demand, totaled 20.03 million tons in May, up from 18.54 million tons in April.

Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 16% higher than the previous month at 3.35 million tons. Cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), sales increased 9.3% to 2.35 million tons and naphtha sales rose 6.5% to 1.15 million tons, the data showed.

We remind, The local governor of Russia's Pacific island of Sakhalin has invited companies from India and China to tap the region's energy resources following the departure of European and American oil and gas majors, said Reuters. Russia has been forging closer political and economic ties with Asia since the start of what the Kremlin calls a special military operation in Ukraine last year and the resulting Western sanctions on Moscow. "We invite companies from China and India to projects of the energy complex. This is a good chance for them to fill the niche vacated by American and European companies in the oil and gas services market," Sakhalin's governor Valery Limarenko said on the government's website.

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Kent, a leading engineering services provider in the oil and gas, low carbon energy and chemicals sectors, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a three-year Master Services Agreement (MSA) with TotalEnergies for engineering services in the United States, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under this agreement, Kent will provide engineering services at TotalEnergies’ Port Arthur Platform and La Porte Plant in Texas and the Carville Plant in Louisiana, one of the largest polystyrene facilities in the world. The agreement will also include the provision of services for Bayport Polymers LLC’s Ethane Cracker in Texas, which is operated by TotalEnergies. Kent has been providing engineering services to TotalEnergies at the Port Arthur Platform since 2016.

The engineering scope covers everything from feasibility studies through pre-FEED and FEED and into detailed engineering. The contract is managed from Kent’s Houston office and draws upon expertise from its offices in Canada, UK, Colombia and India when necessary.

Paula Fitzpatrick, VP Operations Americas at Kent said on the award “Kent's growth strategy in the Americas focuses on growing our engineering and EPCM services and establishing long-term partnerships with our clients across the US. The award of this MSA is testament to our excellent execution and delivery of engineering services to TotalEnergies since 2016. We are delighted that through the execution of projects within this MSA we will be helping TotalEnergies advance its emissions reduction efforts."

As one of TotalEnergies' six refining and petrochemicals platforms worldwide, the Port Arthur Platform has a daily processing capacity of 238,000 barrels per day and is the Company’s largest facility in the US. The platform can process heavy crude oil, as well as lighter domestic crudes. It also has a dedicated unit to produce low-sulphur fuels, which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We remind, TotalEnergies Corbion, a technology specialist in polylactic acid (PLA) and lactide monomers, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese synthetic biology company Bluepha. Under this agreement, the two companies will work together to expedite the growth and adoption of PLA and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) based solutions in China’s market.

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PureCycle Technologies Inc.'s years-long effort to commercialize solvent-based recycling technology for polypropylene is virtually complete, said Sustainableplastics.

And the company's CEO believes that lessons learned from the company's flagship Ironton facility will serve the company well as the firm looks to replicate locations elsewhere — both in the United States and internationally.

PureCycle's journey, from an idea patented by consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co. to a full-fledged production site in Ironton, has had its share of ups and downs. That's for sure.

CEO Dustin Olson readily admitted the realities of the last few years during an on-site interview. But he also believes production in Ironton will wipe away any long-standing questions about the viability of the company and serve as a springboard.

PureCycle uses a solvent-based technology to purify polypropylene, stripping away the fillers and additives and odors along the way to create a virgin-like resin branded Ultra-Pure Recycled, or UPR, plastic by the company.

To follow PureCycle is to understand the company has missed a series of promises to begin production over time. And Olson said that's on him.

"This has been a struggle. I'm not going to lie. I have underestimated the timing for this plant. Some of that ... I should have seen, some of it was out of the blue," Olson said.

"I always give the information to the best of my ability every time. Sometimes I'm right. Sometimes I'm wrong. On this project I would say I leaned on the overoptimistic, but then things happened that prevented us from achieving that," he said.

"There's no doubt that the original dates were hyper aggressive. I think everybody recognizes that. And we've been chasing it," he said. "I think that missing dates is not good. I've got to do a better job." Delays included parts for an extruder being blown up in Ukraine due to Russia's invasion of that country as well as other more mundane supply chain issues. Olson also pointed to what he called minor engineering mistakes.

We remind, PureCycle Technologies Inc.'s flagship polypropylene recycling facility in Ironton, Ohio, is "days away" from beginning the start-up phase of commercial pellet production.

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Corbion announced earlier today that ‘it will not pursue a new PLA bioplastics plant’ in Grandpuits, France, through its TotalEnergies Corbion PLA joint venture, following its review of the investment case, said Sustainableplastics.

In September 2020, TotalEnergies announced plans to invest more than €500 million to convert its Grandpuits refinery into a zero-crude platform. The project would comprise the development of facilities for biofuels, bioplastics and plastic waste recycling as part of TotalEnergies strategy to get to net-zero emissions by 2050.

As part of this project, Total Corbion PLA also announced in September 2020 plans to build a 100 000 tonnes-per-annum biobased polylactic acid (PLA) plant at Grandpuits - the first in Europe - after its first 75,000 metric tonne/year plant was successfully launched in 2018 in Thailand. NextChem, a subsidiary of Italy-based industrial group Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. had been awarded a contract by Total Corbion PLA to carry out a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the plant.

TotalEnergies issued a separate statement, also today, saying that it ‘noted the decision taken by its partner Corbion not to pursue the bioplastic production project, which will now be discontinued.’
However, the company added that ’in the light of the new investments announced today and others to come, TotalEnergies confirms the maintenance of 250 jobs at the site, in line with the commitments it made in September 2020’.

These investments included the doubling of the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the development of low carbon energies at the Grandpuits site. The doubling of SAF production will bring the site’s annual production capacity to 285,000 tonnes.

The development of low carbon energies at the Grandpuits zero-crude platform, will include the construction of a biomethane production unit with an annual capacity of 80 gigawatthours (GWh), equivalent to the annual demand of 16,000 people. It will be supplied with organic waste from the biorefinery, and will prevent the emission of almost 20,000 tons of CO2 every year.

"These new projects further strengthen the site’s conversion, toward sustainability, decarbonisation and the circular economy," said Bernard Pinatel, President, Refining & Chemicals at TotalEnergies.

We remind, TotalEnergies Corbion, a technology specialist in polylactic acid (PLA) and lactide monomers, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese synthetic biology company Bluepha. Under this agreement, the two companies will work together to expedite the growth and adoption of PLA and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) based solutions in China’s market.

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