Braskem-Idesa, the joint venture between Braskem and Idesa, has taken another important step in developing its Ethylene XXI project in Mexico. The JV has chosen Technip as the technology provider for its 1,050-kiloton/yr ethylene cracker based on ethane. This is part of the petrochemical complex to be built in Coatzacoalcos/Nanchital region, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, and it is planned to be ready for startup by the end of 2014. The complex will also include one low-density polyethylene plant and two high-density polyethylene plants.
Braskem-Idesa has also selected Technip as contractor for the front-end engineering design (FEED) of the cracker and high-density polyethylene plants. Technip’s operating centers in Rome, Italy, and in Claremont, California, will execute the ethylene plant’s FEED activities, while the activities related to the FEED for the high-density polyethylene units will be executed by Technip’s office in Lyon, France. The overall FEED activities are scheduled to be completed at the end of 2011.
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and Haldor Topsøe have signed a contract for the Centro de Refinación Paraguaná project. The contract includes an 85,000-bpsd hydrotreating unit. This will reportedly be the biggest ever designed by Haldor Topsøe, and the capacity will correspond to about half of Denmark’s daily consumption of oil.
Due to the hydrotreater’s large capacity, the project will include two trains with four hydrotreating reactors in total. They will produce ultra-low-sulfur diesel containing less than 10 wt ppm of sulfur.
The diesel hydrotreater is part of an optimization project in PDVSA’s largest refining complex in Paraguana, Falcon State. Haldor Topsøe will supply an engineering design package for the hydrotreaters. The scope of supply includes design of the reactors, basic engineering and catalysts, and detailed design of the proprietary reactor internals. Erection of the unit is expected to commence in 2014, and PDVSA expects to begin production by the end of 2015. HP