Texas petrochemical plant

Case Study No. 6 Texas Petrochemical Plant 20.7.6.1 Injection-Facility Overview... 

The dominant role of petroleum in the chemical industry worldwide is reflected in the landscapes of, for example, the Ruhr Valley in Germany and the U.S. Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast, where petrochemical plants coimected by extensive and complex pipeline systems dot the countryside. Any movement to a different feedstock would require replacement not only of the chemical plants themselves, but of the expensive infrastmcture which has been built over the last half of the twentieth century. Moreover, because petroleum is a Hquid which can easily be pumped, change to any of the soHd potential feedstocks (like coal and biomass) would require drastic changes in feedstock handling systems. 

Ludwig, E. E., Applied Process Design For Chemical and Petrochemical Plants. Vol. 2, 3rd Ed. Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Texas, 1997. 

This case study involves an unnamed petrochemical plant located about 15 miles inland from the Texas Gulf Coast, described by Donaldson and Johansen.184 It illustrates two approaches to injecting incompatible wastestreams to prevent well plugging by precipitation surface treatment and multiple injection wells. 

Figure 7.4 Typical column fabrication tolerances. (From Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants, Volume 2, Second Edition, by Ernest E. Ludwig. Ccgiyi ht 1979 by Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. Used with permission. AU rights reserved.)...

Texas, USA, Petrochemical Plant, Explosion and Fire Incident in propylene refrigeration unit. 

Huntsman at Port Neches, XX, Sabina Petrochemicals at Port Arthur, IX, Equistar Chemical at Channelview, IX, and Texas Petrochemicals at Houston, IX, represent the largest producing plants of butadiene in the United States. Aiso Sheii Chemical has two production plants at Deer Park, XX, and Norco, LA, while ExxonMobil has two butadiene plants at Baton Rouge, LA, and Baytown, XX. Equistar Chemical has two additional plants at Chocolate Bayou, XX, and Corpus Christi, IX. Total US production capacity is about six billion pounds annuaily. 

Several states that have a large number of CPI plants offer various types of tax incentives. Louisiana, for instance, offers a 10-yr tax exemption from property taxes on buildings, equipment, and improvements to land (2). Texas, which has a large petrochemical industry, offers a 7-yr tax abatement program. Neither of these states have a state income tax. Both states offer a tax credit for each job created and provide free worker training. 

A company may get capital by selling a subsidiary or a portion of its business. In 1969 Monsanto decided that it would quit the low-density polyethylene business. It sold its plant at Texas City, Tex., plus its research findings and technology concerning low-density polyethylene to Northern Petrochemical.14 In the same year Atlantic Richfield paid 1800,000 for a 30% interest in a mining lease on about 8,560 acres of oilshale reserves in eastern Utah.15 W. R. Grace Co. sold its 53% interest in the Miller Brewing Company to Philip Morris for 130,000,000 and made an after-tax profit of 54,000,000.16 In 1969 it also sold its steamship business. 

Commercial plants Lyondell Petrochemical Co., Channelview, Texas, uses both the OCT technology and ethylene dimerization technology. Two other plants have used related technology. Two plants have recently started up a 690 MM Ib/yr unit for BASF Fina Petrochemical in Port Arthur, Texas and a 320 MM Ib/yr unit for Mitsui Petrochemical in Osaka, Japan. Six other plants are under design or construction, bringing... 

Commercial plants Thirty plants worldwide have been built or are now under construction with a total phenol capacity over 2.8 MMtpy. Three grassroots phenol plants, using KBR s phenol technology started up in 1999/2000 100,000-tpy for Aristech Chemical, Ohio 225,000-tpy for Shell Chemical, Texas and 37,500-tpy for Shanghai Gaogiao Petrochemicals, Shanghai, China. An additional three plants are in design. More than 50% of the world s phenol is produced via this process. 

The latest industrial application of metathesis was developed by Phillips who started up a plant in late 1985 at Cbannelview, Texas, on the L ondell Petrochemical Complex with a production capacity of 135,000 t/year of propylene from ethylene. This facility carries out the disproportionation of ethylene and 2-butenes, in the vapor phase, around 300 to 350°C, at about 0.5.10 Pa absolute, with a VHSV of 50 to 200 and a once-througb conversion of about 15 per cent 2-butenes are themselves obtained by the dimerization of ethylene in a homogeneous phase, which may be followed by a hydroisomerization step to convert the 1-butene formed (see Sections 13.3.2. A and B). IFP is also developing a liquid phase process in this area. 

A cohort mortality study of petrochemical workers in Texas found an increased incidence of malignant brain tumors in workers who worked in a plant that used numerous lipophilic and hydrophilic chemicals and manufactured 43 refined chemicals, four major classifications of resins, four industrial gases, and a mixture of straight chain hydrocarbons J62l The cause of the observed cancers was not determined. 

The flammable gases used by the petrochemical industry have been involved in many accidents.109 A Are and explosion following a leak of ethylene and isobutane from a pipeline at a Phillips plant in Pasadena, Texas, in 1989, killed 23 people and injured 130.110 The U. S. Occupa... 

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