Plant Watch Top 10 Engineering Projects of August 2023

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Technip Energies Head Office

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.

McDermott

Haldor Topsoe A/S

OMV Aktiengesellschaft

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Fluor corporation (Headquarters)

SINOPEC Int'l

ThyssenKrupp Uhde Engineering Services GmbH

EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH

CAC ENGINEERING GMBH

Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

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PROCESS Worldwide brings to you the ‘Top 10 plant engineering projects of August 2023’ from all over the world. Right from Fluor securing a feed contract for one of UK’s first planned commercial SAF units to Topsoe’s technology being selected for Canada’s largest renewable hydrogen project, find out all the projects making headlines here.

Mc Dermott Wins Contracts for Expansion of Petrochemical Project in India

Aug 01 – Mc Dermott has been awarded a project management consultancy (PMC) and engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contract for the Naphtha Cracker Expansion (Phase II) polypropylene expansion and new ethylene derivative unit project from Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL). The project is located at the Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, located 62 miles (100 kilometers) from New Delhi, India.

The project will increase the ethylene production capacity of the naphtha cracker unit (NCU) by approximately 20 percent. The additional ethylene and propylene production will act as feed for downstream polymer units. The polymer products will be used for the manufacture of household and industrial items, including containers, automobile parts, furniture, and heavy-duty films.

Mc Dermott will provide comprehensive EPCM services and overall project management for the duration of the project, which will be executed from its Center of Excellence in Gurugram, India.

Mitsui Chemicals Breaks Ground for New Elastomers Plant

Aug 02 – Mitsui Chemicals recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant to produce the high-performance elastomer Tafmer at its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore. The ceremony was held on 28 July, 2023.

Tafmer is used both as a soft molding material and as a resin modifier that dramatically improves resin properties. Its flexibility and lightness have resulted in Tafmer being used across a wide range of fields, including solar cell components, packaging materials, engineering plastic modifiers, sports shoes and automotive parts.

Demand for Tafmer is set to remain strong as the global economy grows, and is expected to rise further on the back of efforts to achieve a circular economy by stepping up the introduction of clean energy. Via the supply of Tafmer, which meets these needs, Mitsui Chemicals aims to become a global solutions company that leads change and contributes to the sustainable societies of the future.

thyssenkrupp Uhde, SwitcH2 to Develop Floating Green Hydrogen, Ammonia Plant

Aug 04 – thyssenkrupp Uhde will support the project Offset consortium led by Netherlands-based project developer SwitcH2 and including partners BW Offshore Norway AS (BWO), Marin, TU Delft, and Strohm. The consortium is developing an industrial scale floating green hydrogen and ammonia project, based on the proven concept of a floating production and offloading vessel (FPSO).

The collaboration between the Offset Project group and thyssenkrupp Uhde marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of sustainable and environmentally friendly industrial practices. Modern engineering and cutting-edge technology are combined in the proposed FPSO ammonia plant to produce a modular and adaptable solution that will shape the future of clean offshore ammonia manufacturing.

In March 2023, SwitcH2 announced that it had received Approval in Principle from DNV on its design principles for an FPSO which will produce ammonia offshore solely from renewable sources of energy. As part of the Approval in Principle process, BWO developed the topside arrangement, hull, and mooring system design for the FPSO with the engagement of thyssenkrupp Uhde via a Technical Concept Study for the ammonia plant based on thyssenkrupp’s uhde ammonia synthesis technologies.

The project consortium has received a grant of 3 million euros in April 2023 from the Dutch Government in support of project Offset. The objective is to develop a floating hydrogen and/or ammonia production and storage facility which will be connected to an adjacent wind farm by 2027.

Fluor Wins Feed Contract for One of UK’s First Planned Commercial SAF Units

Aug 07 – Fluor Corporation has recently been awarded a contract by Lanzatech UK to provide front-end engineering and design (Feed) services for one of the United Kingdom’s (UK) first planned commercial sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facilities in Port Talbot, Wales. Fluor recognized the award in the second quarter of 2023.

Fluor will help advance Lanzatech’s Project Dragon – which stands for Decarbonizing and Reimagining Aviation for the Goal of Netzero – to convert locally derived waste gases to ethanol. The ethanol can then be converted into SAF, meeting the UK Government’s mandate that at least 10 % of jet fuel should be made from sustainable feedstock by 2030.

“Decarbonizing aviation fuel will aid the aviation industry in meeting its net zero carbon emission goals,” said Jim Breuer, group president of Fluor’s Energy Solutions business. “We are confident that Fluor’s renewable fuels expertise paired with Lanzatech’s carbon capture and utilization technology can help accelerate the energy transition in this important sector.”

SAF can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 % when compared with conventional fossil jet fuel.

Topsoe Technology Selected for Canada’s Largest Renewable Hydrogen Project

Aug 08 – Topsoe has signed an agreement with World Energy GH2 solutions provider to provide Topsoe’s dynamic ammonia loop technology for Canada’s largest, and one of the world’s first-to-market, renewable hydrogen projects - Project Nujio’qonik. Located in the Bay St. George region of Newfoundland and Labrador, Project Nujio’qonik was announced by World Energy GH2 in spring 2022 with an intended investment of 12 billion dollars to produce renewable hydrogen, also referred to as green hydrogen, to decarbonize the hard-to-abate sectors globally. World Energy GH2 will supply 250,000 metric tons of renewable hydrogen per year to global markets at the completion of its renewable hydrogen project. The project will use wind energy power for production on the site, which is expected to begin producing hydrogen in 2025.

Topsoe’s ammonia loop technology will be used to generate up to 1,650 metric tons per day of renewable ammonia on the site. Renewable hydrogen and ammonia are under the Power-to-X umbrella, and a key enabler to make the energy transition happen.

Thyssenkrupp Uhde Technology to Reduce GHG Emissions at Nitric Acid Plant Sites

Aug 16 – Thyssenkrupp Uhde and Orica have successfully completed the Kooragang Island Decarbonisation Project in Newcastle, Australia with the successful commissioning of Thyssenkrupp Uhde’s effective Envinox technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Orica’s three on-site nitric acid plants. For this project, Thyssenkrupp Uhde provided the proprietary equipment, including the reactor vessels and the catalysts. Orica is one of the world’s leading mining and infrastructure solution providers with a global manufacturing capability.

With the Envinox technology it is anticipated that this project will eliminate approximately 567,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents from the site per year which equals the annual emissions from 50,000 Australian homes. This reduction in greenhouse gas emissions corresponds to 48 % of the site’s total greenhouse gas emissions and 11 % of all chemical industry emissions in Australia.

OMV Completes Refinery Turnaround

Aug 21 – At the start of June 2023, the petrochemicals unit of the OMV Schwechat Refinery had been taken out of operation as scheduled for a regular inspection required by law every six years. The aim of this routine process – known as a Turnaround – is the thorough cleaning, inspection and maintenance of plant components as well as the modernization of the petrochemical unit and parts of the refining unit to be able to continue to guarantee their safe and sustainable operation. This inspection has now been successfully completed and the OMV Schwechat Refinery is fully operational again. The top priority was safety and the greatest possible consideration for local residents.

The units for fuel production were already inspected in 2022. Production in this area was almost at full capacity during this year’s petrochemicals turnaround. This year’s shutdown affected the areas used for the production of intermediate products for plastics production. This area includes the ethylene and butadiene plant and the catalytic cracker.

In addition to the 900 or so employees of the OMV Schwechat Refinery, around 4,000 employees from 50 partner companies were also involved in what amounted to around 1.2 million working hours.

Inspection work was carried out on 18 process furnaces, 121 columns/reactors, 513 heat exchangers, 684 tanks, 3,000 fittings, and 1,800 safety valves, and various repairs were carried out at around 1,140 pipeline points. In total, around 500,000 bolts were replaced on the equipment in the petrochemical unit of the OMV Schwechat Refinery.

In addition to the maintenance and overhaul of the units, OMV also used this time to modernize the refinery in order to set the course for a more sustainable future with lower emissions. This meant that progress was made on numerous projects – such as the integration work for expanding the Reoil recycling plant and the electrolysis unit for producing green hydrogen. Extensive implementation work for co-processing (for biofuel production) is in progress and will be finalized soon.

Irving Oil to Conduct Major Refinery Turnaround in Canada

Aug 23 – On September 17, Irving Oil will begin one of its largest turnaround projects in several years at its Saint John refinery in Canada. Operation Ram represents a private investment of 190 million dollars, with the maintenance project focusing on the continued safe, sustainable and reliable operations of Canada’s largest refinery.

This annual investment represents one of the largest private capital investments in Atlantic Canada. Operation Ram is scheduled to take seven weeks, employing an additional 2,300 skilled workers, the majority of which will come from communities throughout New Brunswick and the rest of Atlantic Canada. This influx into the Saint John area will generate significant direct and indirect benefits to the regional economy, including boosts to short-term accommodations, recreation services, restaurants, as well as retail and other sectors.

The dedicated workforce of Operation Ram will focus on performing this scheduled work safely and efficiently, while maintaining a reliable facility.

Sinopec’s Green Hydrogen Pilot Project Begins Operations

Aug 29 – China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has announced that the Green Hydrogen Pilot Project constructed by the company in Kuqa City of Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has commenced operation. The official operation of the plant, which harnesses solar energy to generate green hydrogen, marks a major stride forward in Sinopec's technological exploration to produce clean hydrogen as it empowers the country to transition to a greener and more sustainable energy system.

Spearheaded by Sinopec's New Star Company, the mega project is the largest solar-to-hydrogen project in the world and the first of its kind in China that is equipped with a photovoltaic power generation complex, power transmission and transformation lines, as well as facilities for water electrolysis hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and transportation, and supporting auxiliary production.

Green hydrogen is produced by facilities powered by renewable power sources such as solar and wind energy, minimizing the carbon footprint across the entire production process. The Project takes advantage of the wealth of photovoltaic resources in Kuqa to achieve 20,000 tons per annum of green hydrogen by using solar power to electrolyze water, along with the capacity to store 210,000 cubic meters of hydrogen and transport 28,000 cubic meters per hour.

As a demonstration project that serves to carve out a new path for green hydrogen refining and provide an exemplary model for green hydrogen production in China, the Project supplies hydrogen to Sinopec's Tahe Refining & Chemical to remove its fossil fuel-based electricity used for hydrogen production, which is expected to help it reduce 485,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Technip Energies Wins Contract for Hydrogen Production Unit

Aug 30 – Technip Energies has been awarded a significant contract by BP for a hydrogen production unit at its Kwinana biorefinery in Western Australia, in support of the planned project to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and biodiesel from bio feedstocks. The contract covers Engineering, Procurement and Fabrication (EPF) of a modularized hydrogen production unit with a capacity of 33,000 normal m3/hour, using Technip Energies’ SMR proprietary technology.

Hydrogen is used for the conversion of bio feedstocks into biofuels such as SAF and biodiesel. The unit will be capable of producing hydrogen from either natural gas or biogas produced by the Kwinana biorefinery. It is planned to integrate with the site’s existing import terminal operations and plans for green hydrogen production, which are currently being assessed. The Kwinana Renewable Fuels project is one of five biofuel production projects BP has planned globally.

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