Plant Watch Top 10 Engineering Projects of May 2022

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PROCESS Worldwide brings to you the ‘Top 10 plant engineering projects of May 2022’ from all over the world. Right from developing a world scale ethylene plant in Europe to building one of the world’s largest PDH units in China, find out all the projects making headlines here.

Air Liquide to Build Air Separation Unit for EZZ Steel

May 01 – Air Liquide Egypt will invest around 80 million dollars in the construction of an Air Separation Unit (ASU) to supply EZZ Steel’s needs for industrial gases as well as other customer needs in the basin of Ain Sokhna, Egypt.

With an oxygen production capacity of 770 tons per day, this ASU will notably allow the supplier to support the development of the Ain Sokhna area as one of the country’s major basins for heavy industries within the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Air Liquide will also expand its existing pipeline network in Ain Sokhna to connect the new plant with their four other Air Separation Units already in operation, increasing the reliability of supply.

The project includes a CO2 emissions reduction roadmap based on renewable power sourcing.

Evonik Catalysts Launches its First Zero Liquid Discharge Plant in India

May 06 – Evonik Catalysts has opened a new Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) plant at its facility in Dombivli, India. The new plant reduces the amount of fresh water required for production processes and turns material that was previously considered waste into saleable products.

ZLD purifies and recycles wastewater at the end of an industrial process, leaving little to no effluent remaining when it is completed. This means not only more efficient water use, but also a significant reduction in waste liquid.

The main ambition with the Dombivli ZLD plant is to improve the treatment of process water. It goes through a multi-stage process and then the by-products go through further processing. An estimated 600 m3 of wastewater – the equivalent of between 25 and 30 tankers – enters the ZLD plant every day and the plant is expected to recirculate around 55 percent of that – approximately 300-350 m3 – for process reuse and the balance water for re-use as cooling tower make up thus reducing Evonik water use requirements and thereby reducing Evonik’s dependence on municipal water supplies.

The requirement for fresh water will be reduced by 65 percent after stable operation of zero liquid discharge and the company is targeting further reductions through process optimization. In addition, processing leads to the production of 15-20 metric tons of sodium sulphate and certain mixed salts which can be resold as a commercial product.

The ZLD plant is set-up on a ‘BOOT’ Model between Evonik and Remondis, with the latter responsible for building, owning, operating, maintaining and transferring the ZLD plant to Evonik.

Ineos to Build World Scale Ethylene Plant in Europe

May 12 – Ineos has awarded Técnicas Reunidas a contract for the project management, engineering, procurement and construction management and supervision services for a world scale ethylene plant in Europe. The facility, to be built in the Belgian port of Antwerp, will have a production capacity of 1.5 million tons per year. Start-up of the facility is expected in 2026.

Ineos will invest 3,000 – 4,000 million euros in this project. It will be the largest capital investment made by the European chemical sector in the last 20 years. The advanced technology applied in its development will make it the most energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable facility of its kind in Europe.

For the development of the project, the company will mobilize a highly qualified team that will reach a peak of 450 professionals in Madrid, composed of process engineers and chemical engineers, among other specialties.

In addition, Técnicas Reunidas will mobilize a peak of 225 professionals for construction supervision to the Antwerp site and also to the center where the construction of the large-scale modules, designed by Técnicas Reunidas, will be carried out. This project is a milestone in the European chemical sector due to its size, its advanced technology and its contribution to the energy transition.

Phillips 66 to Convert US Refinery into One of the World’s Largest Renewable Fuels Unit

May 13 – Phillips 66 made a final investment decision to move forward with Rodeo Renewed, the project to convert its San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, California, into one of the world’s largest renewable fuels facilities. The project, which recently received approval from Contra Costa County, is expected to cost approximately 850 million dollars and begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2024.

Upon completion of Rodeo Renewed, the converted facility will no longer process crude oil and instead use waste oils, fats, greases and vegetable oils to produce an initial 800 million gallons per year (over 50,000 barrels per day) of renewable transportation fuels, including renewable diesel, renewable gasoline and sustainable aviation fuel.

Production of these fuels is projected to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by approximately 65 % — the equivalent of taking 1.4 million cars off California roads each year. Rodeo Renewed is also expected to cut criteria pollutant emissions at the site by 55 % and water use by 160 million gallons per year.

The scope of the project includes the construction of pre-treatment units and the repurposing of existing hydrocracking units to enable production of renewable fuels. The converted facility will leverage its flexible logistics infrastructure to secure renewable feedstocks from local, domestic and international sources and supply renewable fuels to California and other markets.

The facility conversion will create 500 construction jobs and preserve more than 650 jobs, including full-time employees and contractors. It is poised to help California meet demand for transportation fuels while assisting the state in achieving its environmental goals.

Axens, Toray Films Europe to Develop New Pet Chemical Recycling Plant in France

May 16 – Axens and Toray Films Europe have recently announced their collaboration to study a Pet chemical recycling facility at Toray Films Europe production site in Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost (Ain, France). New units based on Axens’ Rewind Pet technology will be coupled with Toray Films Europe’s existing polymerization plant in order to recycle annually 80,000 tons of difficult-to-recycle Pet plastic waste. Joined efforts of both parties in their domain of expertise will allow the emergence of competencies for chemical recycling circularity.

Post consumers Pet plastic waste that cannot be mechanically recycled and are currently down-cycled, incinerated or landfilled, will be converted into high-quality circular Pet chips, closing the loop for this material with potentially infinite recycling. Rewind Pet process, developed by IFP Energies nouvelles, Axens and Jeplan, involves an optimized - glycolysis based - Pet depolymerization combined with specific purification steps aiming at removing all organic and inorganic compounds present in waste Pet, including colorants and pigments.

The product is a purified BHET (BHET: Bis(2-HydroxyEthyl) Terephthalate) monomer. BHET monomer will then be processed in Toray Films Europe existing continuous polymerization plant to produce up to 100 % recycled transparent food contact Pet for films, fiber and bottles applications.

The project is currently in its engineering phase, and targets start-up of the first Rewind Pet train leading to an annual production of 30,000 tons of recycled Pet, by the end of 2025 (phase 1). With the addition of a second Rewind Pet train by the end of the decade, the polymerization plant will be used at full capacity to produce 100 % recycled Pet (phase 2). This investment will create additional direct and indirect jobs at and in relation with Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost industrial site, benefitting from ideal existing infrastructures, in particular for the waste feedstock supply.

BP, Linde to Develop Major CCS Project in USA

May 18 – BP and Linde have plans to advance a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Texas that will enable low carbon hydrogen production at Linde’s existing facilities. The development will also support the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from other industrial facilities – paving the way for large-scale decarbonization of the Texas Gulf Coast industrial corridor.

Upon completion, the project will capture and store CO2 from Linde’s hydrogen production facilities in the greater Houston area – and potentially from its other Texas facilities – to produce low carbon hydrogen for the region. The low carbon hydrogen will be sold to customers along Linde’s hydrogen pipeline network under long-term contracts to enable production of low carbon chemicals and fuels.

As part of the project, BP will appraise, develop and permit the geological storage sites for permanent sequestration of the CO2. BP’s trading & shipping business aims to bring custom low carbon solutions to the project, including renewable power and certified natural gas, along with commodity trading and price risk management expertise.

Linde will use its proprietary technology and operational expertise to capture and compress the CO2 from its hydrogen production facilities for the project. Together with its extensive infrastructure of hydrogen production facilities and its storage cavern connected through its pipeline network across the Texas Gulf Coast, this project will enable Linde to supply cost-effective, reliable low carbon hydrogen and, together with BP, provide carbon capture and storage solutions.

The project will be a further important step in the development of BP’s low carbon business. BP is evaluating large-scale CCS and hydrogen projects for industrial clusters in the US and already is in action on Teesside, the industrial heart of the United Kingdom.

The overall development, expected to be operational as early as 2026, will also enable capture and storage of CO2 from other large industrial facilities in the region and could ultimately store up to 15 million metric tons per year across multiple onshore geologic storage sites – the equivalent of taking approximately 3 million cars off the road each year.

Topsoe to Develop the World’s Largest Electrolyzer Production Facility

May 24 – Topsoe has recently announced its intention to construct the world’s largest and most advanced industrial scale electrolyzer production plant. The new electrolyzer production plant, which will be constructed in Herning, Denmark, will be operational by 2024 and have an annual capacity of 500 MW with scalability up to 5 GW, making it one of the first industrial scale plants of its kind. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of this year, subject to Board and other regulatory approvals.

Topsoe is already seeing considerable interest in its Power-to-X solutions and is in advanced discussion with a number of potential partners over future offtake agreements and commitments to reserve capacity from the electrolyzer plant.

Developing a strong Power-to-X industry in Europe will also enforce EU’s ambitions of being independent of energy imports from other regions.

The milestone in ensuring large-scale availability of electrolyzers for Power-to-X solutions takes place at the same time as Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and state leaders from Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, and Belgium signed an agreement, in which the parties agree to invest in a ten-fold capacity increase of offshore wind by 2050. The political agreement ensures significant availability of the renewable power needed to supply future Power-to-X facilities in the EU.

Wood Wins Multi-Million-Dollar Contract for Solvay’s New PVDF Facility

May 24 – Wood has secured a new multi-million-dollar contract to deliver engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) for Solvay’s new polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) site to be built in Tavaux, France.

PVDF is a high-performance polymer and is produced to meet the growing demand of lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles, creating safer and longer-range performance. The site will increase Solvay France’s PVDF capacity to 35,000 tons per year – making it the largest PVDF production site in Europe.

The project will be delivered by Wood’s teams across Milan, Italy and Chennai in India and is expected to be completed at the end of 2023.

Fujian Meide to Develop One of the World’s Largest PDH Units in China

May 26 – Clariant and its process partner Lummus have been awarded a major contract by Fujian Meide to supply Catofin technology and catalysts for a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Fuzhou, China. Already operating one PDH unit at its Fuzhou petrochemical complex, Fujian Meide is now building one of the largest PDH units in the world and has selected the Catofin process and catalysts for the project’s second phase. The new unit will produce 900,000 metric tons of propylene annually and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.

Stefan Heuser, Senior Vice President & General Manager at Clariant Catalysts, commented, “This strategic collaboration exemplifies our dedication to product innovation with ground-breaking chemistry, such as our Heat Generating Material (HGM). As a result, HGM, together with new Lummus process technology, reduces energy consumption of the Catofin process by one-third, making it a low-carbon route to propylene production.”

Zheng Chaohui, President at Fujian Meide Petrochemical Co., stated, “With an annual capacity of 900,000 tons, our second PDH unit will be among the world’s largest. No other PDH technology is proven at such scale, and we needed outstanding performance. Catofin was our first choice because it is widely recognized as one of the most advanced solutions in the PDH industry.”

The Catofin process combines Lummus’s advanced technology with Clariant’s tailor-made catalysts and Heat Generating Material (HGM) to convert propane to propylene with exceptional reliability.

World’s First Waste to Renewable Fuels Plant Begins Operations

May 30 – Fulcrum Bioenergy has recently announced the completion of commissioning and the initial operations of its Sierra Biofuels Plant, the world’s first landfill waste to renewable transportation fuels plant. The Sierra Biorefinery began operations, processing prepared waste feedstock and successfully producing the high-quality hydrocarbon synthetic gas, or syngas, which is ideal for conventional Fischer-Tropsch fuel production.

Combined with Fulcrum’s operations of its Feedstock Processing Facility, which converts landfill waste into a clean, prepared feedstock, Fulcrum has successfully harvested the carbon embedded in the waste and completed its transformation into a hydrocarbon syngas, while achieving the quality and expected conversion of recycled carbon. Sierra plant operations will now move on to the final step in Fulcrum’s waste to fuels process, converting the syngas into liquid fuel.

“This operations achievement at our Sierra plant is a real breakthrough step in making waste to fuels a reality. This is a major milestone for our construction management, operations and engineering teams who have worked tirelessly to integrate more than 30 different plant systems in Fulcrum’s unique and patented process,” said Eric Pryor, Fulcrum’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Fulcrum is launching an entirely new source of low-cost, domestically produced, net-zero carbon transportation fuel, which will contribute to the aviation industry’s carbon reduction goals, U.S. energy security and address climate stability.”

The Sierra Biofuels Plant, located outside of Reno, Nevada, includes both a Feedstock Processing Facility and a Biorefinery with the capacity to convert approximately 175,000 tons of prepared landfill waste into approximately 11 million gallons of renewable syncrude annually, which will then be upgraded to renewable transportation fuel.

With Fulcrum’s standardized, scalable and financeable plant approach, the Company has positioned its growth program to capitalize on this operations success. Along with Fulcrum’s backing by leading financial investors in renewable infrastructure and industry leaders in the waste, aviation and energy sectors, Sierra’s operational achievement will serve as a launchpad for Fulcrum’s large development of plants across the U.S. and internationally.

“Fulcrum’s process will produce a fuel that is a cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel and an alternative to petroleum-based fuel. With a net-zero carbon score and the ability to be produced in large volumes, our sustainable aviation fuel will have an impact on addressing climate change. We are eager to get this fuel into the market and into the hands of our airline partners,” added Pryor.

The Company’s waste to fuels plants will help address two globally critical and urgent environmental issues simultaneously – the reduction of carbon emissions from the aviation industry and the reduction of waste sent to landfills. Producing a net-zero carbon, domestic transportation fuel at scale also will reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

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