Communicator

Scaling New Heights: How Univation and Industry Rivals Are Redefining Polyethylene Production Capacity and Flexibility

The polyethylene (PE) production industry is experiencing a remarkable transformation, driven by advances in process technology and a relentless pursuit of scale and efficiency. At the center of this evolution is Univation Technologies, which recently announced a new UNIPOL™ PE Process design capable of producing 800,000 tonnes per year. This announcement marks a significant leap forward in the scale of single-line PE production, underscoring the company’s commitment to pushing technological boundaries while maintaining the flexibility to meet diverse market needs.

Univation’s journey toward ever-greater production capacities is a testament to decades of innovation. The company’s first UNIPOL™ PE plant, built in 1989, had a capacity of 225,000 tonnes per year, which at the time was a world record for a single-reactor PE facility. By 2016, the landscape had changed dramatically, with more than twenty operating lines each producing at least 400,000 tonnes per year, and single-line capacities reaching today 650,000 tonnes. The latest 800,000 tonnes per year design represents a substantial 23 percent increase over the previous benchmark, and the scale of this expansion is even more striking when considering that a 150,000-tonne increase is equivalent to the entire output of a typical reactor from the 1970s, highlighting the extraordinary progress that has been made in reactor engineering and process optimization.

A key differentiator for the UNIPOL™ PE Process is its product flexibility, enabled by a sophisticated portfolio of catalysts. By selecting from a dedicated line of catalysts, producers can seamlessly switch between a full spectrum of PE products, including metallocene-based resins, bimodal and unimodal HDPE, and LLDPE, all within the same reactor. This versatility allows manufacturers to respond rapidly to changing market demands without the need for costly and time-consuming reactor modifications, setting UNIPOL™ PE apart from many competing technologies, which often require dedicated lines for each product type.

The race for the world’s highest-capacity PE plant is intensifying, with Univation’s latest announcement coming on the heels of significant developments from Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem). CP Chem’s MarTech™ single-loop slurry process is now being deployed at a massive scale, with the Golden Triangle project in Texas featuring two HDPE lines, each with a capacity of 1,000,000 tonnes (1 million tonnes) per year, and a similar scale project with two HDPE lines, each with a capacity of 850,000 tonnes per year at the Ras Laffan Petrochemical Complex in Qatar. While CPChem has focused on maximizing HDPE production through specialized lines, Univation’s approach emphasizes both scale and product diversity, offering producers a compelling combination of flexibility and efficiency.

Achieving such immense reactor capacities is a feat of engineering that cannot be overstated. Scaling up polymerization reactors to handle up to 1 million tonnes per year and beyond requires overcoming significant technical challenges. Advanced cooling systems, real-time temperature controls, and innovative designs are essential to manage the intense heat and mixing requirements of high-throughput polymerization, as well as enhancing operational reliability and efficiency, ensuring that these mega-plants can run safely and consistently at peak performance.

In this rapidly evolving landscape, access to accurate and up-to-date technical information is more important than ever. Platforms like portfolio planning PLUS (ppPLUS) have emerged as invaluable resources for industry professionals, offering open-access, collaborative tools for tracking global PE plant deployments. Through ppPLUS, users can explore detailed information on PE plants worldwide, visualize production clusters, and contribute data on plant capacities, technology choices, and mass balances. This level of transparency and collaboration supports better decision-making and accelerates the adoption of best practices across the industry.

In summary, the latest advances in PE production technology, exemplified by Univation’s 800,000 tonnes per year UNIPOL™ PE Process and CP Chem’s MarTech mega-projects, are redefining the limits of scale and flexibility in polymer manufacturing. These achievements are not only a testament to the ingenuity of process engineers but also a harbinger of a more efficient, responsive, and interconnected global PE industry. As collaborative platforms like ppPLUS continue to democratize access to technical knowledge, the pace of innovation is likely to accelerate, shaping the future of plastics production for decades to come.

#hdpe  #lldpe  #bimodal  #metallocene  #univation  #unipol  #martech  #slurryloop  #gasphase  #massbalance #cpchem  #chevronphillips 

Dec 16, 2024 | Phillips 66 News Release

Two world-scale joint venture projects being developed by Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (CPChem) and QatarEnergy remain on track to start operations in 2026, Phillips 66 said on Monday. Phillips 66 and Chevron hold equal stakes in Chevron Phillips Chemical.

The US project is Golden Triangle Polymers, an integrated polyethylene (PE) complex in Orange, Texas. Chevron Phillips holds a 51% stake, and construction started in 2023.

The Qatari project in Ras Laffan is another integrated PE project. It is a 70:30 joint venture between QatarEnergy and CP Chem. Construction on this project started in 2024.

Remarquably, these two ethane crackers employing Technip tecnology will be the world's two largest, producing each above 2 Mt/a of ethylene when they are starting up, and each of the two CPChem MarTECH Single Loop polymerization plants also the world's largest with an output of 1 Mt/a of HDPE each at Golden Triangle and 850 Kt/a each at Ras Laffan.


#phillips  #chevron  #qatarenergy  #cpchem  #technip  #martech  #slurryloop  #ethylene  #polyethylene  #raslaffan  #goldentriangle  #steamcracking

A detailed description of the TC2C crude oil to chemical conversion process has been added.


#lummus  #aramco  #clg  #chevronlummusglobal  #crudeoiltochemicals  #oiltochemicals  #refineryintegration  #steamcracking  #lpg  #naphtha  #olefins  #aromatics  #ctc  #cotc  #coc  #tc2c  #c2c 

Picture: Chevron refining operations

Chevron newsroom, PASADENA, Texas (Dec. 10, 2024)

Chevron U.S.A., Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, has completed a retrofit of its refinery in Pasadena, Texas. The upgrade aims to increase product flexibility and expand the processing capacity of lighter crudes by nearly 15% to 125,000 barrels per day.

Key Benefits

▪️Increased Capacity: The refinery’s processing capacity for lighter crudes has increased by 15%, allowing it to handle more equity crude from the Permian Basin.
▪️Enhanced Gulf Coast Supply: The upgrade enables Chevron to supply more refined products to customers in the U.S. Gulf Coast region.
▪️Synergies with Pascagoula Refinery: The retrofit enhances synergies with Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery, improving overall refining system efficiency.
▪️Light Tight Oil (LTO) Project: The upgrade is part of Chevron’s LTO Project, which focuses on improving facility reliability and safety, boosting domestic refined product supply, and introducing jet fuel production and gas oil exports.

Strategic Intent

Chevron acquired the Pasadena Refinery in 2019 as part of its strategy to expand its Gulf Coast refining system. This upgrade supports the company’s goal of increasing its refining capacity and improving its ability to meet growing demand for refined products in the region.

Timeline

The upgrade was completed in December 2024, with the refinery now fully operational with its enhanced capabilities.

#chevron  #refinery  #capacityincrease  #crudeoil  #lightcrude  #permian  #pasadena 

Several technologies and production capacities have been added to HMEL's Guru Gobind Singh Refinery.

#lummus  #lyondellbasell  #chevronphillipschemical  #cpchem  #p örner #bituros  #asphaltblowing  #steamcracker  #dualfeed  #martech  #novolen  #unipol  #spheripol  #univation  #asphaltblowing 

The CPChem MarTECH Single Loop technology description has been updated.

#martech  #cpchem  #chevronphillips  #slurryloop  #polyethylene 

Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR) analysts have provided an overview of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity within the U.S. upstream sector for both the fourth quarter and the entirety of 2023.

The final quarter of 2023 witnessed unprecedented activity, marking a historical high in observed M&A transactions within the U.S. oil and gas industry, totaling $144 billion. Over the course of the entire year, M&A deals amounted to $190 billion, also setting a new record.

Notably, two significant transactions significantly contributed to these figures: Exxon's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources for $65 billion and Chevron's purchase of Hess for $60 billion.

This surge in M&A activity is noteworthy considering the backdrop of a decade-long decline in investment in oil and gas exploration. Despite the identification of major shale oil fields in the U.S., investment in new wells has waned, with industry giants opting to acquire existing assets instead.

Analysts at Dittmar observed that the market is currently characterized by an imbalance, with more buyers than sellers, resulting in escalated prices.

#oil &gas #m &a #upstream  #oilandgas  #exxonm  #chevron