Plants: Hanwha completes polyolefin elastomer pilot plant; LyondellBasell licenses PE tech to PetroChina Guangxi complex

Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical Co., a South Korean joint venture between Hanwha Group and TotalEnergies, has completed a pilot plant for polyolefin elastomer (POE).

The newly completed POE plant, which began construction in August 2021 and took 18 months, was built within the Hanwha TotalEnergies Daesan Complex. The company invested around US$26 million and the plant can produce 200 tonnes/year of POE products and conduct major process tests.

POE has lower density and higher elasticity compared to traditional polyethylene products. It also possesses excellent impact strength. POE is used in various applications such as automotive interior and exterior materials, food packaging, shoes, and wires. The global market for POE is expected to grow at an annual rate of 6.9% until 2030, reaching US$6.3 billion.

Through the POE pilot tests, Hanwha TotalEnergies aims to secure process data for optimized product design and commercial process design, enabling them to complete the basic structure of a commercial plant within one year and proceed with full-scale investments.

In other news, chemical firm LyondellBasell has announced that it will license its PE technology to PetroChina Guangxi Petrochemical Company’s facility located in Qinzhou City, Guangxi, China. The newly licensed technology will comprise of the LyondellBasell high-pressure Lupotech process technology which will be used for both a 100 kilotonnes/year autoclave and a 300 kilotonnes/year tubular line.

Both production trains will produce mainly low-density polyethylene (LDPE) with ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA). Furthermore, an additional 300 kilotonnes/year Hostalen Advanced Cascade Process (ACP) line for the production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) will be built at the same site.

“This latest award from PetroChina Guangxi Petrochemical Company continues the long tradition of collaboration with LyondellBasell, as with this award almost 6,000 kilotonnes of capacity has been licensed to the PetroChina group. With the selected polyolefin technologies, PetroChina Guangxi will be able to compete in the market and be able to produce benchmark resins to support people’s everyday lives,” said Neil Nadalin, Director Global Licensing and Services at LyondellBasell.

Nadalin added: “The newly added lines will include our latest generation high-pressure Lupotech technology as well as our multi-modal advanced cascade (ACP) HDPE technology enabling PetroChina to produce state-of -the art polyethylene products.”

More than 15,000 kilotonnes of LyondellBasell high pressure LDPE technology has been licensed by LyondellBasell in over 80 lines around the world.

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