The Catalyst Review November 2019 - 2

COMMERCIAL NEWS
South Africa Sees New
Saudi-Backed $10B Refinery
Onstream by 2028...

ADNOC Signs Framework Agreement with China's Rongsheng
Petrochemical to Explore Domestic and International Growth
Opportunities...

South Africa's Central Energy Fund (CEF),
partnering with Saudi Aramco, expects
a proposed new 300,000 barrel per day
crude oil refinery along South Africa's
east coast to come onstream by 2028,
making it the region's largest refinery,
CEF's acting group chief executive said.
Work on the project is still at an early
stage, but indications are that it would
cost in the region of $10 billion, said
Kholly Zono, adding this cost excluded the
development of a related petrochemical
complex at Richards Bay. The new refinery
would reduce the need for refined product
imports and cement Saudi Arabia's
position in South Africa's oil sector. Source:
Hydrocarbon Processing, 11/7/2019.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced it has signed a broad
Framework Agreement with China's Rongsheng Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (Rongsheng) to
explore domestic and international growth opportunities which will support the delivery
of its 2030 smart growth strategy. The agreement will see both companies explore
opportunities in the sale of refined products from ADNOC to Rongsheng, downstream
investment opportunities in both China and the United Arab Emirates, and the supply
and delivery of liquified natural gas (LNG) to Rongsheng. Under the terms of the
Framework Agreement, ADNOC and Rongsheng will explore opportunities for increasing
the volume and variety of refined products sales to Rongsheng as well as ADNOC's
active participation as Rongsheng's strategic partner in refinery and petrochemical
opportunities, including an investment in Rongsheng's downstream complex. In return
Rongsheng will also explore potential investments in ADNOC's downstream industrial
ecosystem in Ruwais, including the proposed Gasoline Aromatics Plant (GAP) and the
potential for ADNOC to supply and deliver liquified natural gas (LNG) for utilization by
Rongsheng within its production complexes in China. Source: ADNOC, 11/12/19.

Avantium Advances its PlantBased MEG Technology
with the Opening of its
Demonstration Plant...

Evonik Creates a Small Revolution with the Development of a
Novel New Reactor...

As part of the European Union's "Horizon 2020" research program, Evonik and nine
project partners from five countries have succeeded in developing a novel new reactor
for catalysing OXO reactions, which is 70% more energy efficient. The ROMEO (Reactor
Optimization by Membrane Enhanced Operation) project was launched in 2015 with
Avantium inaugurated its plant-based MEG the aim of developing a completely new type of reactor. This is used in homogeneous
(mono-ethylene glycol) demonstration
catalysis, in which olefins are converted into aldehydes with synthesis gas in a
factory in Chemie Park Delfzijl, the
hydroformylation reaction. The newly developed membrane reactor is able to carry out
Netherlands. Avantium additionally
the classic two-step process in just one single step. Previously, the chemical reaction
announced the naming of this innovative
was carried out first and then the product was separated from the catalyst. The pilot
technology to produce plant-based MEG:
reactor is 70% more energy and resource efficient while also reducing greenhouse gas
Ray Technology™ - A Bright Step to The
emissions by up to 45%. The reaction now takes place on a monolith, a kind of cylinder
Future. Today, 99% of MEG is produced
whose inner surface is coated with the catalyst. Its unique feature: the membrane is
from fossil resources representing a value applied to the outside. This causes the catalyst to remain on the monolith and the
of approximately $25 billion. This market
reaction product to be separated by the membrane. Source: Evonik, 11/7/2019.
is expected to rapidly grow in the coming
decades, providing a great opportunity for
the introduction of plant-based MEG as
Breakthrough Oil-to-Chemicals Process to be Commercialized
part of the transition to a more renewable Soon...
world. In addition to its sustainability
advantages, the production of plantDevelopment work on one of several breakthrough technologies for direct conversion
based MEG with Ray Technology™ is cost
of crude oil to chemicals (COTC) is close to being completed. McDermott International
competitive to fossil-based MEG. The Ray
said that it is continuing to make progress on the potential thermal COTC project with
Technology™ demonstration plant with an Saudi Aramco, with first implementation award expected in the fourth quarter of 2019
industrially relevant capacity of 10 tons
and with additional deployments under study. Aramco is working on several new
annually will also produce plant-based
technologies to convert crude oil to chemicals. In the McDermott tie-up, it is working
MPG (mono-propylene glycol) which is
with Chevron Lummus Global (CLG). McDermott's ethylene and CLG's hydroprocessing
used in a diverse set of industries such
processes are being combined with Aramco's proprietary thermal COTC technology.
as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food
The thermal process is expected to convert 120,000 b/d of crude into 1.5 million metric
flavoring, and deicing. Source: Avantium,
tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene. The partners previously said they plan to commercialize
11/7/19.
the technology next year. Source: Chemical Week, 11/5/2019.

The Catalyst Review

November 2019

The Catalyst Review November 2019

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