Polyethylene Plant Research Articles

The Effects of inorganic Fluids on the Properties of Thermoplastics

The first polyethylene plant came on stream in 1939. This challenging, resilient material found immediate application as a bold for high-frequency low-voltage cables in radar, and its low-loss properties were later exploited in high-performance transatlantic submarine cables. The objective of this project is to look at the effects of inorganic fluids on the mechanical and physical properties of the thermoplastics, using the sulphuric (H2SO4) acid 98 % which was used to make three environments (1 M, 0.1 M, and 0.01 M), and other two environments, water and dry air. The polymers used in this project are Nylon 66 unfilled, Nylon 66 glass-fiber filled, and fiberglass. They were immersed in these environments to see the changes in their properties during the time of ten weeks, by tensile and Stress-Strain test.

Analysis and treatment of gas pulsation in the pipeline of a hyper compressor

The compressor discharge pressure of a polyethylene plant in Yanshan Petrochemical Company exceeds 170 MPa, and the gas pulsation in some pipe sections is large, which leads to strong vibration of pipeline elements. The acoustic modeling and analysis of gas pulsation characteristics were carried out around the hyper compressor pipeline system of the polyethylene device. The non-invasive strain–pressure method was used to indirectly measure the pressure pulsation data in the high-pressure pipeline, and the test results were in good agreement with the simulations. On this basis, based on the acoustic analysis, the treatment measures to effectively suppress the gas pulsation in the high-pressure pipeline were further proposed.

Middle Eastern projects move forward

A pair of big Middle Eastern petrochemical projects have been given the go-ahead. Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies have made the final decision to invest in a new cracker complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The $11 billion complex will be integrated with the firms’ existing refining joint venture there. The cracker will have capacity to make 1.7 million metric tons (t) of ethylene per year. The project will also include two downstream polyethylene plants and a butadiene extraction unit. It will be majority owned by Aramco and go on line in 2027. Separately, Chevron Phillips Chemical and QatarEnergy have green-lighted a $6 billion project for Ras Laffan, Qatar. It will have a 2.1 million t per year ethylene cracker, the largest in the region, as well as downstream polyethylene plants.

Chevron Phillips gives green light to US cracker

Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) and QatarEnergy say they are going ahead with a previously proposed project to build an $8.5 billion ethylene cracker and polymer facility in Orange, Texas. The complex will include a cracker with 2.1 million metric tons (t) per year of capacity and two 1 million t high-density polyethylene plants. CPChem says it is targeting 25% lower greenhouse gas emissions than such facilities in the US and Europe. CPChem and QatarEnergy are building a similar complex in Qatar.

Big Gulf Coast projects eyed

A commodity chemical building boom may be in store for the US Gulf Coast. Ineos says it is evaluating sites for a world-scale acetic acid and derivatives plant in the region. The firm, which expects to make a final investment decision by the end of 2023, says the region offers competitively priced feedstocks, among other advantages. Ineos says it is not proceeding with a plant for the acetic acid derivative vinyl acetate at its site in Hull, England, because of a “volatile and uncompetitive energy costs outlook.” Separately, an application for property tax breaks filed with local authorities shows that LyondellBasell Industries is planning a polyethylene plant for its complex at Corpus Christi, Texas. And according to similar state property tax documents, Occidental Chemical plans to invest in its chlor-alkali complex in Deer Park, Texas. The company says the project will boost chlorine and caustic soda output while lowering the

Expansion flurry at Celanese

Celanese unveiled a series of ambitious capital projects during its investor day March 25. The company says it has the financial flexibility to put $6 billion toward capital spending, acquisitions, and share repurchases. In one of the most notable projects, Celanese’s Clear Lake, Texas, methanol joint venture with Mitsui & Co. intends to capture waste carbon dioxide and convert it into methanol. The effort will add about 300,000 metric tons (t) per year of methanol capacity. Celanese plans to expand vinyl acetate capacity at its Nanjing, China, facility by 90,000 t per year through the use of what it calls a “next-generation” Celanese catalyst. By 2023, it will expand capacity for vinyl acetate ethylene emulsions by 65,000 t in Nanjing and by 45,000 t in Frankfurt, Germany. The company is also looking for a European site for an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene plant with 34,000 t of capacity that would open in

Sasol will divest another polymer asset

Sasol will sell Ineos its 50% interest in the companies’ polyethylene joint venture, Gemini HDPE, for $400 million. The high-density polyethylene plant, inside Ineos’s Battleground Manufacturing Co...

Sasol will divest another polymer asset

Sasol will sell Ineos its 50% interest in the companies’ polyethylene joint venture, Gemini HDPE, for $400 million. The high-density polyethylene plant, inside Ineos’s Battleground Manufacturing Co...

LyondellBasell will buy into Sasol’s new complex

LyondellBasell Industries has agreed to pay $2 billion for a 50% stake in an ethylene cracker and two polyethylene plants that Sasol recently built in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The transaction may finally conclude the troubled saga of Sasol’s Lake Charles project, which had complications and cost overruns that led to a shake-up at the South African company’s headquarters. In addition to the cracker and polyethylene plants that will soon be half-owned by Lyondell, the new complex includes ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, ethoxylation, and Ziegler and Guerbet alcohol plants. When the project was approved in 2017, Sasol expected it to cost $8.9 billion. The firm ended up spending $12.5 billion. The debacle prompted Sasol’s co-CEOs to step down last October. In March, Sasol said it was looking to divest $6 billion worth of assets worldwide, partly by taking on a partner in the complex. The transaction is expected to close by

Nova slows projects because of COVID-19

Nova Chemicals is slowing work on its Canadian projects because of COVID-19. In Ontario, where Nova is expanding an ethylene cracker by 50% and building a polyethylene plant, the firm will limit co...

Explosion rocks new Sasol facility

Exacerbating problems at Sasol’s beleaguered complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana, an explosion and fire occurred at a new low-density polyethylene plant there. The company says all its workers are safe and accounted for after the Jan. 13 blast. The company is investigating the cause of the incident, which occurred in the high-pressure section of the plant during commissioning. Other sections of the complex, such as the ethylene cracker and ethylene oxide plant, were not affected by the blast and are still operating. The $12.5 billion complex has suffered from delays and cost overruns.

Simulation of a Plant for the Production of Polyethylene

The simulation of a 270 KTA capacity polyethylene plant was performed using Aspen Hysys version 8.8. A Hysys model of the polyethylene was developed using the polyethylene plant layout of Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Company. A material and energy balance for the various components of the plant was performed manually and with Hysys for comparison. The design of the various components of the Hysys model was performed. The polyethylene reactor was simulated to study the effect of process functional parameters such as reactor dimensions, temperature and pressure. The effect of reactor size and number on polyethylene output was studied by simulating the plant with five continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) in series and a single reactor. The results of the material and energy balance of the various components of the plant were performed manually and with Hysys which showed a maximum deviation of 0.8%. The design results of the sizing parameters for the Multiple and single CSTRs were compared in terms of Volume, Diameter, Height, Spacetime, Space Velocity, and Volumetric flowrate respectively. At 90% Conversion, the multiple CSTRs gave 600 dm3, 0.7668 m, 1.198 m, 0.052 hr, 195.83 hr-1, and 117.5 m3/h for the above listed parameters, while the single CSTR gave 6000 dm3, 1.721 m, 2.581 m, 0.056 hr, 17.867 hr-1 and 107.2 m3/h for the same conversion. The sizing results for each of the five compressors were also compared in terms of the following parameters: Adiabatic Head, Polytropic Head, Adiabatic fluid Head, polytropic Fluid Head, Adiabatic Efficiency, power consumed, polytropic head factor, polytropic exponent and isentropic exponent. The effect of reactor size and number showed that At 90% conversion the multiple CSTRS in series gave a lower volume than the single CSTR for the same conversion, and more Economical than the single CSTR for the same conversion.

Analytical Research on Agility Index of a Manufacturing System

Agility level of any organisation portrays the degree of flexibility of the organisation in responding to customer needs. Hence, knowledge of agility level assumes its importance for developing the competitive strategies for any organisation including the manufacturing firms. In this line monitoring the level of agility and flexibility in a manufacturing organisation could be considered to be an important element for meeting the business objectives. However, proper evaluation of this agility metrics becomes deceptive to define owing to its vague nature and application in non-manufacturing related systems. In this regard an attempt has been made in this research to develop agility index of 3 types of plants. The results of this study revealed the Polyethylene plant has the highest agility index of 9.51 out of the three case plants. The results also revealed that the agility index of the Olefins plant is 7.32 and that of the Polypropylene plant is 6.37. Plants with a high agility index reflects its higher degree of agility level.

Failure Analysis of 304 Stainless Steel Components Used in Petrochemical Industry Applications

Type 304 stainless steel has been used to manufacture metal gaskets used as seals in bolted flange joints of hydrocarbon transfer pipeline in polyethylene plant and piping system used to distribute demineralized water in a polypropylene plant. During reassembling of ten joints after scheduled maintenance, heavy leakage has occurred in one joint. On the other hand, the water pipes have been drained and unused for about 2 months; however, after reuse, leakage has been detected. It is shown that the gasket has been crushed due to improper reassembling practice involving the application of excessive compressive preload generated by tightening the bolts. Most evidence pointed out that the water pipes have been degraded by pitting corrosion due to contamination of the water by chloride ions.

LyondellBasell to invest in Chinese project

LyondellBasell Industries is plunging into China by forming a joint venture with the Chinese company Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group for an integrated petrochemical project in Panjin. Chinese state news service Xinhua reports that the two companies foresee investing $12 billion over the next decade. The first phase of the project, which will be a 50-50 venture, is under construction. It includes an ethylene cracker with capacity of 1.1 million metric tons (t) per year, two polypropylene units, and a polyethylene plant. The polypropylene plants will use LyondellBasell’s Spheripol and Spherizone processes, and the polyethylene unit will use its Hostalen ACP technology. According to Xinhua, this first phase will cost $2.5 billion and will also include a styrene plant. LyondellBasell signed licensing agreements with Liaoning Bora for the polyolefins plants in 2017. At the time, the companies said the project would have annual capacity of 600,000 t of polypropylene and 350,000

Applying multivariate linear regression and multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network to design an energy consumption baseline in a low density polyethylene plant

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate and analysis of energy consumption for this industry. The core part of any energy management system (EnMS) in industry is to perfectly monitor the energy consumption of significant users and to continuously improve the energy performance. In petrochemical plants, production deals with energy-intensive processes, and measuring energy performance for recognition and assessment of potentials for saving is critical.Design/methodology/approachThe required data are exploited for the period of March 2011-August 2016 (data set: 2,012 days). Multivariate linear regression (MLR) and multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network (ANN) methods are separately used to anticipate the energy consumption. The baseline will be assumed as a reference to be compared with the actual data to estimate the real saving values. Finally, cumulative summations (CUSUM) are proposed and applied as an effective indicator for measurement of energy performance in an LDPE.FindingsIn this study, two statistical methods of MLR and ANN were used to design and develop a comprehensive energy baseline representing the predicted amounts of energy consumption based on the recognized drivers. Although both models imply robust outcomes, when the relative errors are taken into account, performance of ANN models appears fairly superior compared to the MLR model.Originality/valueIt is highly suggested to the ISO technical committee dealing with energy management standards, to consider the proposed model for baseline development in the future version of the standard ISO 50006 as the supplementary extension for the ISO 50001 for measuring energy performance using EnB and EnPI. As for future studies, the research can be extended to investigate the uncertainty and the model could also become completed applying more advanced ANNs such as recurrent neural networks.

Another US cracker set

Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) is moving forward with another ethylene cracker project with Qatar Petroleum, this time on the US Gulf Coast. At a signing ceremony held at the White House, CPChem CEO Mark Lashier and Qatar Petroleum CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi inked an agreement to pursue the $8 billion petrochemical complex. To be owned 51% by CPChem, it would have a 2-million-metric-ton-per-year ethylene cracker and two 1-million-metric-ton-per-year polyethylene plants. The companies expect to make a final investment decision by 2021 and start up the complex in 2024. Just last month, the two companies announced they would build a nearly identical petrochemical joint venture in Qatar by 2025. “The proposed US project is part of a trend of Middle Eastern oil companies looking to diversify across regions and expand their footprint in the growing chemicals industry,” says John Maselli, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. Similarly, ExxonMobil and Sabic are

Chevron Phillips amps up chemical investment

Chevron Phillips Chemical is forming a petrochemical joint venture with one Middle Eastern company and, according to a published news report, negotiating with another Middle Eastern firm to acquire the Canadian chemical maker Nova Chemicals. Chevron Phillips says it has joined with Qatar Petroleum to develop an ethylene complex in Qatar. The multibillion-dollar facility would be 70% owned by the state-owned oil company and 30% owned by Chevron Phillips. It would include a 1,900-metric-ton-per-year ethane-based ethylene cracker and two high-density polyethylene plants. Engineering is set to begin shortly, leading to a planned start-up in late 2025, the companies say. The agreement follows an invitation that Qatar Petroleum put out in May 2018 looking for an international partner with which to build a new cracker. Chevron Phillips—a joint venture between the oil companies Chevron and Phillips 66—earlier partnered with Qatar Petroleum to create Qatar Chemical, a maker of ethylene and derivatives.

Sasol reveals cost overruns, again

Once again, the petrochemical complex Sasol is building in Lake Charles, Louisiana, faces cost overruns. The company says the plant will cost between $12.6 billion and $12.9 billion, up from the $11.6 billion to $11.8 billion it estimated in February. When the project got the go-ahead in 2014, it was supposed to cost $8.1 billion. Sasol faced construction problems such as defective carbon steel forgings for the new ethylene cracker. The firm says the project is 96% complete. A polyethylene plant has started up, an ethylene oxide plant is ready to open, and the cracker will start up in July.

Gulf Coast plants open, and new ones are planned

As more Gulf Coast petrochemical facilities are completed or near completion, a new group of shale-driven projects is starting to crop up. Sasol says it has opened a polyethylene plant, the first o...