Atyrau oil refinery in Kazakhstan halted due to power outage

The Atyrau oil refinery in western Kazakhstan was completely halted on Monday due to power outage, a refinery official told Reuters.

The outage caused an emergency halt at the refinery and power is yet to be restored, the official said.

Separately, Kazakh news website Zakon.kz reported that an emergency outage occurred at the Mangystau plant which also supplies power to the country’s largest oilfields such as Tengiz and Kashagan.

We remind, Axens has signed an agreement with KazMunayGas (KMG) to supply the process design package for its proprietary AlphaButol technology for producing high-purity 1-butene, which is required for producing PE. KMG has plans for a 1.2 million t/y PE plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. French technology and engineering group Axens has signed an agreement with KazMunayGas (KMG) to supply the process design package for its proprietary AlphaButol technology that produces high-purity 1-butene, which is required for producing PE. KMG plans to build a 1.2 million t/y PE plant in the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan – a timescale for the project has not been disclosed.

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Technip Energies announces the acquisition of Processium, an expert company in process development, equipped with laboratory and piloting facilities located in Lyon, France, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Processium is an industrial development partner designing and developing next-generation processes to support the energy transition and enhance manufacturing competitiveness in the field of sustainable chemicals.

With this acquisition, Technip Energies will pursue its strategic objective of accelerating the development of new processes and technologies to meet the pressing needs of a fast-growing market, driven by sustainability goals. Technip Energies will strengthen its R&D portfolio and enlarge its service offer, taking benefit from the highly skilled workforce of Processium with specific competencies in reactor design and scale-up, as well as downstream purification and processing know-how.

The modern and reputable innovation center provides process development services that accelerate and de-risk new technology introduction for clients ranging from startups to large industrial companies. The integration with Technip Energies will create unique offerings for its clients to support new process development and generate added value for both companies.

Wei Cai, Chief Technology Officer of Technip Energies, commented: “We are very excited by this opportunity to leverage talent and expertise from Processium. In close collaboration with our existing technology centers, this acquisition will enhance our capabilities to develop proprietary technologies in the dynamic sustainable chemicals industry."

Pascal Rousseaux, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Processium, commented: “We share the same vision of market needs and the combination of our respective strengths will provide new offerings to support our customers at all stages from concept to industrial solution. Being part of the Technip Energies group will bring a lot of value to our customers. We are very pleased and excited about the possibilities of collaboration with Technip Energies’ R&D teams.”

We remind, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Technip Energies and LyondellBasell are collaborating on the design, construction and operation of a demonstration unit for Technip Energies’ electric steam cracking furnace technology, designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the olefins production process.

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Syclus intends to build and operate a plant for the production of renewable ethylene from sustainable ethanol in Chemelot Industrial Park, Geleen, The Netherlands, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With an annual production capacity in the range of 100,000 tonnes, this renewable ethanol-to-ethylene production plant would be a first in Europe, paving the way for a more sustainable way of producing plastics.

The facility will rely on Atol technology from French company Axens. Among many other benefits, Atol features very high, cost-effective, ethylene yields thanks to a best-in-class catalyst, and allows for an optimized use of process energy, which minimizes emissions. The technology can produce ethylene widely regarded as having the highest quality on the market, fulfilling the specifications required by Chemelot and also by the ARG, the extensive ethylene pipeline network in Northwest Europe.

Basic engineering is scheduled to start in late 2023, and production in 2026. Ethanol will be regionally produced by CropEnergies, who operates a plant for the production of renewable ethanol nearby and who has aquired a major share in Syclus in 2022. The investment required is estimated to be more than EUR 130 million.

Igor Hensing, General Director of Syclus B.V. said: ”Syclus has selected Axens as licensor for the ethanol to ethylene project. Axens’ Atol technology provides a high efficiency combined with a low energy consumption process next to high product quality and safety performance. This supports Syclus’ ambition to set a new benchmark in renewable ethylene. Based on our cooperation Axens has shown to share Syclus’ ambition and we are convinced to have selected the right partner to make the design, construction and operation of our plant a success."

Stephan Meeder, CEO/CFO of CropEnergies AG, said: “Having a 50 percent stake in Syclus, we are very happy that they have taken the next step for the realization of the ethanol to ethylene project with the selection of Axens as a partner. Renewable ethylene is an important step in defossilizing the production of plastics, making it more sustainable. Depending on the results of the feasibility study which is currently being carried out, CropEnergies expects to make a decision for the next phase, which will be the basic engineering, by the end of this year."

Jacques Rault, Executive Vice President Technology & Technical Support of Axens, said: “Atol is a mature technology that already counts 5 references around the world. We couldn’t be happier to work on Atol’s first reference in Europe and are honored to have been selected by Syclus. Atol is a safe, reliable, low-carbon solution and we have all the reasons to believe that it is the future of renewable ethylene."

We remind, CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, Germany, has acquired a stake in the Dutch start-up for biobased
chemicals Syclus BV, Maastricht. CropEnergies purchases 50 percent of the company's share capital. The investment volume amounts to EUR 1.8 million. The goal is to build an industrial scale plant for the production of renewable ethylene from renewable ethanol. Ethylene is a basic chemical usually made from fossil oil and gas and is widely used in the chemical industry in particular for plastics and polymers used in everyday products. Historically, European demand for ethylene was approximately 20 million tonnes per year.

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Henkel launches Loctite Ablestik NCA 01UV, an active alignment adhesive that can be cured in a single step with just three seconds of UV LED light exposure, circumventing the need for oven curing to save time, energy and CO2 emissions, said the company.

The adhesive is a latest innovation that is bringing unprecedented speed, efficiency, and sustainability to the assembly of high-resolution advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) camera and lidar modules. By reaching excellent performance after only few seconds of UV LED cure Loctite Ablestik NCA 01UV 1-step cure adhesive meets all requirements for high resolution cameras for automotive applications, while matching its dual-cure predecessors. With low and consistent dimensional change of 0.4% during cure, this new adhesive is a reliable candidate for high resolution camera modules for automotive as no change in focus from an excessive shrinkage is to be expected. In order to meet the requirements for automotive grade for camera module adhesives, Loctite Ablestik NCA 01UV shows high reliability and dimensional stability, as well as no outgassing from volatile compounds, ensuring a high image quality and no fogging on the optical system.

In line with Henkel's commitment to developing safer and more sustainable solutions, it is free of CMT, SVHC, or any toxic substances and fully EU REACH-compliant. Loctite Ablestik NCA 01UV reaches its full performance and final bond strength with seconds of UV LED irradiation during the fixing step. Hence, time- and energy-intensive post-curing by oven is no longer required. By avoiding the high capital expenditure of heat cure ovens and the associated operating and maintenance costs as well as manufacturing space demands, this simpler process also makes a compelling commercial case. Additionally, the innovative actively curing 1-step adhesive Loctite Ablestik NCA 01UV facilitates manufacturers' contribution to greater sustainability while enabling higher overall production efficiency. Eliminating the oven curing significantly decreases the duration of the entire active alignment process. This results in a more sustainable process that reduces the CO2 footprint of assembly compared to a regular active alignment process. The annual energy consumption of a medium-sized oven curing an adhesive at 80 degC for 70 minutes is equivalent to nearly 2.5 tons of CO2. For this amount of carbon, about 42 tree seedlings would have to grow for 10 years. However, the long-term cumulative effect of eliminating the curing step in a typical production site with multiple ovens will result in a significant positive contribution to sustainability.

We remind, Henkel and Shell Chemical LP have agreed to a five-year collaboration to replace up to 200,000 tonnes of fossil feedstocks used in the manufacture of surfactants with feedstocks that are based on renewable raw materials. The renewable-based surfactants will be used in Henkel’s laundry product brands, including many varieties of Persil®, Purex® and all® brands. Surfactants are an ingredient in cleaning products that help lather and lift dirt.

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Borealis will acquire Italian mechanical recycled polypropylene (R-PP) compounder Rialti, the company announced in a press release.

Rialti has a nameplate output capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year of compounded R-PP. The announcement comes amid tough trading conditions for flake and pellet producers and compounders in the R-PP chain. As a result of tough trading conditions, players across recycled polymers have been predicting consolidation would occur in the chain since Q4 - either through mergers and acquisitions or through bankruptcy.

Throughout Q2 non-packaging demand has been estimated at around 50% lower year on year. Several players said that demand continues to decline on a weekly basis. Coupled with this, ongoing downward pressure on the virgin and off-spec markets continues to result in substitution away from recycled material for non-packaging grades.

With virgin prices comparatively low, the start of the traditionally low demand summer season, and ongoing bearish trading environment, the majority of players do not expect consumption to recover until at least Q4 2023.

Nevertheless, there remain underlying structural shortages - particularly of packaging suitable material - and sustainability pressure from regulators and consumers shows little sign of abating.

We remind, Borealis announces that it is using the occasion of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE) in May to highlight a new monomaterial pouch containing over 95% PP and designed for recycling.

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