FOCUS ON
implementation of MEAs in the Asian region. As a
Original Source: Speciality Chemicals Magazine, 23 DEC 2019
(Website: http://www.specchemonline.com) ã Quartz
Chemicals Ltd 2019.
Plastics world market update:
Polypropylene (PP)
Polypropylene (PP) is an interesting substitute to
polyethylene (PE) due to its comparable mechanical
properties and reduced density. Novel catalysts and
manufacturing methods offer various products, with
monolayer films and recycling currently under
development. The worldwide PP market volume
reached about 74 M tonnes in 2018. It is the most
widely utilized plastic globally, surpassed only by
different PE variants (approximately 94 M tonnes) out
of the total plastics market of around 300 M tonnes.
PP’s average growth rate is about 5%/y and is higher
than for other standard plastics. European growth is
slightly under 2%, but the market focus is on Asia,
particularly China that already consumes nearly a third
of global PP production. PP’s production volume,
contrary to that of PE, is rising more slowly than
consumption, which could lead to scarcity in supply in
the years to come. This would result in PE and PP
prices gradually matching each other. In the medium
term, this could be disadvantageous for producers as
substituting PP with other materials like PE and
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) could become
attractive. All PP producers are keen on matching their
production process with their catalyst system as this
defines potential product range, process economy,
productivity and product purity. Ziegler-Natta catalyst
types continue to lead the market, including WR Grace
& Co’s Consista catalysts. Meanwhile, PP’s key
application stand-up pouches are being developed to
be mono-material instead of the hard-to-recycle multi-
layer form. An example of the new design includes a
laminate made of a biaxially oriented PP (BOPP) film
and a cast PP film. These kinds of mono-material
systems, however, can only be manufactured using
special PP copolymers, such as Borealis’ transparent
BC918CF and highly tough BD212CF. Other important
applications of PP include beverages and medical
technology, as well as lighter motor vehicles. A pie
chart shows the global production of different polymers
in 2018.
Original Source: Kunststoffe International, 23 DEC 2019
(Website: http://www.kunststoffe-international.com) ã Carl
Hanser Verlag 2019.
Chemical waste management is still
in a very poor state in much of Asia
Countries in the South-East Asian region have
become dumping sites for hazardous and other
waste. Hazardous chromate chemical waste from
tanneries in Ranipet, India, are captured and stored in
open pits. The chromium levels in the groundwater of
Ranipet are higher than WHO recommendations by
1000 times. Drinking water also contains very high
chromate levels. Developing nations do not have a
clear set of treatment requirements and disposal
mechanisms associated with harmful waste. Based on
the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry, Croda India is
decreasing its environmental impact, waste to landfill
and carbon footprint. The firm is using technologies to
cut effluent discharges in India. In the longer term, it
targets zero liquid discharge facilities. The company is
also participating in a study to support the people at
Singapore’s Jurong Island in working towards the
circular economy. The company is looking for
opportunities to cut the waste disposal cost. It is
moving towards turning 100% of its palm-based raw
material into mass balance grades. Present national
laws and multilateral environmental agreements
(MEAs) for the complete management of hazardous
wastes and chemicals should be fully executed. A
new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report
revealed that countries may be unsuccessful to meet
the globally agreed goal to reduce the hazardous
effect of chemicals and waste by 2020. In 2018, the
Chinese government authorized a new plan to help
address pollution issues and enhance waste
management. The plan includes tax exemptions to
promote the complete recycle of waste. In 2018,
China and the UNEP worked together to back the
4 February 2020
CATALYSTS
completely bio-based if the second monomer ethylene
result, Asian countries have now commenced to
impose control efforts over new chemicals that are
handled and those that are to be ruled under new
chemicals and waste MEAs. Completion of the United
Nations project financed by the China Trust Fund and
led by the Chemicals & Health Branch of the
Economy Division in Geneva, Switzerland, is
scheduled by Jul 2020. The project intends to bolster
the capacity of Asian stakeholders in sound chemicals
management via better understanding of alternatives,
while meeting the conditions of chemicals and waste
conventions and the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals.
Original Source: Speciality Chemicals Magazine, 23 DEC 2019
(Website: http://www.specchemonline.com) ã Quartz
Chemicals Ltd 2019.
COMPANY
NEWS
Sasol ramps up ethylene production
at Louisiana complex
Sasol Ltd is increasing production rates following the
replacement of acetylene reactor catalyst at its Lake
Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), an integrated
ethane cracker and downstream derivatives complex
commissioned earlier this year in Westlake, LA, US,
near Lake Charles. The cracker, which achieved
full operation in Aug 2019, had been running about
50-60% of its nameplate 1.5 M-tonne/y capacity
because of underperformance of the plant’s acetylene
removal system, Sasol said on 17 Dec 2019. An
outage to replace the catalyst recently was completed
on schedule and within budget, which resolved the
issue. Following the maintenance outage, the unit was
started up smoothly, with ethylene production rates
now at about 85-90% of nameplate capacity and
continuing to increase, Sasol said. Ethylene
production quality also US Gulf Coast ethylene
pipeline specifications, the operator added. Sasol said
it also looks forward to completing the LCCP’s low-
density polyethylene unit that, now in its
commissioning phase, is scheduled to reach
beneficial operation by end-2019. Currently, Sasol
said it expects the timeline for LCCP’s other
remaining three units to achieve full operation to be
as follows: Zeigler alcohols unit: Jan 2020; Guerbet
alcohols unit: Mar 2020; and ethoxylation unit: Jan
2020.
Original Source: PennWell Corporation, 12 DEC 2019
(Website: http://www.ogj.com/index.html), ã Pennwell
Corporation 2019.
Will Polyethylene furanoate (PEF)
challenge Polyethylene
terephthalate (PET)?
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) used in packaging
continues to grow steadily, with PET consumption
doubling to 21 M tonnes in 2016 from around 12 M
tonnes in 2006. Around 24 M tonnes and 25 M tonnes
were projected in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Growth is primarily driven by Asian markets, with
moderate support from Europe and North America.
These figures exclude fibres, Global PET production
capacity was around 33 M tonnes in 2018 is fibers are
included. China has the largest capacity share at
35%, followed by the US and India with 11% and 7%,
respectively. The proposed PET bio-based alternative
polyethylene furanoate (PEF) has yet to materialize.
BASF has withdrawn from its Synvina joint venture
with Avantium, with the PEF introduction postponed
for 2025. Avantium plans to commercialize PEF on its
own. PEF demonstrates excellent polymer properties,
making the industry very excited about the new
development. Biopolymer PEF uses furandicarboxylic
acid instead of terephthalic acid. It could be
glycol is also substituted with something based on
renewable raw materials. In terms of recycling,
however, PET is the most successful among all
polymers. PET bottles are 100% recyclable into new
packaging. For more than 20 years, recovery
schemes and “super-clean” recycling methods have
been established to produce recyclates for food
applications. Bottles based on 100% post-consumer
recyclate are currently available, but PET bottles still
receive heavy criticism. The world’s throw-away
culture is represented by the PET bottle, including
marine litter discussions that involve PET bottles. The
problem is that marine litter mainly comes from
countries outside Europe. These non-European
countries do not have recycling infrastructures. Even
highly industrialized countries like the US still lag
behind Europe in terms of PET recycling, and no
boost in growth is anticipated. The world’s recycling
quota for PET bottles exceeds 50%, but remains
under 30% in the US. Quota in the US is projected to
reach just 33% in 2025 and 36% in 2030. Emerging
economies like the Philippines are much further along
in recycling PET. Meanwhile, Europe has installed
efficient collecting and recycling methods in the last
decades, with 58.2% re-collection and recycling rate.
This is 1.93 M tonnes out of the total European sales
of around 3.31 M tonnes in 2017. Film production still
accounted for most of pan-European recyclates
applications in 2017 with 40% share, followed by
bottle applications (29.5%) and fibres (15.5%).
Strapping bands and others account for the remaining
15%. A table presents reutilization rates of PET
bottles in the US, Germany and the Philippines. Bar
graphs show the five largest PET producers with their
production capacities in 2017 and collected quantities
and the return quotas for PET bottles in Europe.
Original Source: Kunststoffe International 17 DEC 2019
(Website: http://www.kunststoffe-international.com) ã Carl
Hanser Verlag 2019.
NIS awards contract to McDermott
to modernize FCC unit at Pancevo
McDermott International said it has won a technology
contract from Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) to upgrade
its existing fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit at its
refinery in Pancevo, Serbia, to shift the yield of the unit
toward the production of “valuable” olefins and higher-
octane naphtha. Under the contract, valued at between
$1 M and $50 M, McDermott’s Lummus Technology will
provide the licence and basic engineering for the
“state-of-the-art” Indmax FCC technology and a
grassroots CDEtbe unit for the production of bioethanol
base ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE). The Indmax
technology was jointly developed by Indian Oil Corp
and Lummus.
Original Source: PetroChemical News,23 DEC 2019 (Website:
http://www.petrochemical-news.com) ã William F. Bland Co.
2019.
Baltic selects Univation’s PE
technology for new PE lines planned
in Ust-Luga
Baltic Chemical Plant LLC (BCP), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of RusGasDobycha, has chosen Univation
Technologies’ Unipol polyethylene (PE) process for
six new PE reactor lines to be built at the Ust-Luga
marine port in Leningradsky region, Russia. The PE
lines, each designed to have a capacity of 500,000
tonnes/y, are part of a project that also includes two
ethylene cracking facilities with a capacity of 1.4 M
tonnes/y each. Cost of the project and a schedule
were not given. BCP will also utilize Univation’s
Acclaim technology for unimodal high-density PE
(HDPE), Prodigy technology for bimodal HDPE
grades, and XCat technology for advanced
metallocene linear low-density PE. In addition, BCP
will incorporate Univation’s latest process control
system, Premier APC+ 3.0, across all production
lines. The system is designed to maximize production
rates, facilitate product transitions and enhance
overall economic performance of the Unipol PE
process.