WORLD NEWS Canada | Air
Products unveils plan for hydrogen complex
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ir Products and its subsidiary Air Products Canada Ltd, in conjunction with the Government of Canada and the Province of Alberta, have announced a plan to build a landmark new net-zero hydrogen energy complex in Edmonton, Alberta. Air Products began work in 2018 on the core of this world-scale energy complex, which will begin with a transformative CA$1.3 billion net-zero hydrogen production and liquefaction facility expected onstream in 2024. The new facility will capture over 95% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from
the feedstock natural gas and store it safely back underground. Hydrogen-fuelled electricity will offset the remaining 5% of emissions. The clean energy complex will help refining and petrochemical customers served by the Air Products Heartland Hydrogen Pipeline to reduce their carbon intensity. The complex also marks a first in the wider use of hydrogen in Alberta, enabling the production of liquid hydrogen to be an emissions-free fuel in the transportation sector, and to generate clean electricity.
Poland | PKN
ORLEN to invest in olefins complex expansion
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KN ORLEN is investing in the expansion of the olefins complex at the Plock Production Plant in Poland. It is the key project in the strategic Petrochemical Development Programme and the largest petrochemical investment project in Europe in the last 20 years. The Olefins III Complex will be built using state-of-the-art technology to ensure greater energy efficiency, including a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions per t of product.
The project is scheduled for completion in 1Q24, and production is set to launch in early 2025. The olefins complex will cover an area of almost 100 ha. The expansion is part of the ORLEN2030 strategy, which assumes that PKN ORLEN will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The company aims to reduce carbon emissions from its existing refinery and petrochemical assets by 20% and cut down carbon emissions per megawatt-hour of electricity by 33% by 2030.
China | Vopak
awarded
contract for industrial terminal
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uizhou QuanMei Petrochemical Terminal Co. Ltd has awarded Vopak a contract for storage and services of a liquid products terminal in China. The planned terminal would be constructed and operated as part of ExxonMobil’s proposed Huizhou chemical complex project. The contract award is subject to customary conditions, including closing of the transaction and obtaining regulatory approvals, whereby Vopak obtains an ownership interest in the terminal. This greenfield industrial terminal, located in Guangdong province, will serve a world-scale flexible feed steam cracker project to be constructed and operated by ExxonMobil (Huizhou) Chemical Co. Ltd (EMHCC). The project, which remains subject to final investment decision, is situated in Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, which is one of the seven national petrochemical bases in China. Vopak will have ownership of 30% of the 560 000 m3 terminal, including the pipelines to connect the terminal to the jetty and EMHCC plant. Vopak will also provide services for the terminal and jetty through a separate wholly-owned Vopak entity.
France | Axens
and Sulzer Chemtech deliver advanced FCC naphtha processing solution
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xens and Sulzer Chemtech (GTC Technology) have announced that they have formed an alliance to license an advanced process for fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) naphtha processing. The companies have said that the combined offering is based on Axens’ Prime-G+® hydrodesulfurisation
technology and Sulzer Chemtech’s GT-BTX PluS® extraction technology. The combined solution can reduce octane loss to a very low level for the gasoline pool. The technology is especially important in countries that are upgrading fuel specifications to meet environmental requirements, and it can be applied
in new, or retrofits of existing units in operation to maximise profit. It also provides refiners the option of converting FCC gasoline into petrochemical products – BTX and additional propylene – and obtaining additional margin in regions where gasoline demand is not sufficient. HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
5
July 2021
