Dateline: March 6, 2007

News
Technically Speaking

North America

World

New Facility
Lyondell and Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co. (ZRCC) have received final government approval for the construction of a propylene oxide / styrene monomer (POSM) facility in Ningbo, China.  The plant will capitalize on Lyondell’s POSM technology, the operating experience of both companies and raw materials from ZRCC’s future olefins plant in Ningbo.

Project Consideration
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Mittal Investments are considering forming joint ventures for a Brownfield refinery and an aromatics complex.  The draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) would establish one or more joint ventures to set up a 9 million ton/year Brownfield refinery and a petrochemical complex near HPCL’s existing refinery at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh state.  The Brownfield should be completed by 2011 at a cost of $2.3 billion while the downstream petrochemical complex should be completed by 2012 at a cost of $2 billion.

Joint Venture Abandoned
ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum have abandoned a joint gas-to-liquids (GTL) project worth $7 billion.  The companies did not give specific reasons, but the project was to have been located at the Ras Laffan Industrial City and would have been one of the largest GTL facilities in the world.  However, the companies have announced a new joint venture project to supply 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas to meet Qatar’s infrastructure and industry growth.  ExxonMobil has also been granted exclusive rights to participate in the Barzan project, which is also located in the North Field, and should start up in 2012.

Phenol and Acetone Plant
Ineos Phenol will invest in a 400,000 ton/year phenol plant in Zhangijagang, China to be completed at the end of 2009.  The facility will also produce 250,000 tons/year of acetone.

New Plant
CariSal will invest $80 million to build a chlor-alkali plant in Point Lisas, Trinidad.  The facility will produce 100,000 tons of caustic soda and 100,000 tons of calcium chloride.  It is expected to come on line by September 2008.  CariSal will process a waste salt stream from a local desalination plant to provide raw material for the facility and potable water for local industrial use.  Houston, Texas-based DX Terminals will market the caustic soda from the plant internationally.

TiO2 Expansion
Tiwest’s 50-50 joint venture partners, Tronox Western Australia and Yalgoo Minerals, will increase annual production capacity at the Tiwest titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment plant in Kwinana, Western Australia.  Currently, the plant has a capacity of 110,000 tons/year of chloride-process Ti02 pigment.  The Brownfield expansion will increase the plant’s annual capacity by 40,000 – 50,000 tons at a cost of $35 – 45 million.  The additional capacity should come on line in 2009.

Plant Location Chosen
Ticona will locate its new GUR ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) facility at the Celanese integrated chemical complex in Janjing, China.  The 20,000 ton plant is expected to begin operations in the second half of 2008.

API Expansion
Cambrex will expand its production capabilities for APIs (advanced pharmaceutical ingredients) in Karlskoga, Sweden and Charles City, Iowa.  The detailed engineering for the Swedish expansion has started, with activities scheduled to begin in July for a targeted early 2009 completion.  This expansion intended to increase production capacity for small-molecule APIs will add a flexible, mid-sized cGMP manufacturing plant that will complement the existing large- and small-scale facilities.  At the Iowa site, Cambrex will build new laboratory space to augment its existing high-potency development facilities.  The project will include constructing an 11,500 square foot facility with five new process development/kilo lab production suites for high-potency APIs, as well as enhanced facilities for analytical development and quality controls activities.

Sorghum Tests
The Philippines is looking at sorghum as a way to help fuel its ethanol-dominated biofuels drive after successful trials were completed in India.  The water-efficient crop was turned into ethanol by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, a non-government organization based in India.

New Base
BJ Process and Pipeline Services (BJ PPS) has opened a new base of operations in Doha, Qatar.  The base will serve as the center of operations for all BJ PPS activities in Qatar and joins other BJ PPS facilities throughout the Middle East in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.  The new 5,000 square-foot base features offices and a sizeable workshop, with technical sales, operations personnel and process and pipeline equipment based there.  The Qatar facility offers a full range of process and pipeline services including cold and hot nitrogen work, chemical cleaning, hydrostatic testing, nitrogen and helium leak detection and pipe freezing, as well as pipeline and process pipe cleaning and drying services.

Technically Speaking

When specifying a cooling tower, should I look up historic wet bulb temperatures for my area or should I take measurements?

If this is a new installation, look up historical wet bulb temperatures for area and be sure to report them to the cooling tower manufacturer as "ambient wet bulb temperatures". The manufacturer will adjust this temperature accordingly to estimate an "entering wet bulb temperature".

If you have an existing tower that is to be replaced, take several wet bulb temperature measurements near the air inlet during the hottest months. Report this as the "entering wet bulb temperature" to the tower manufacturer.

The difference between the ambient and the entering wet bulb temperatures is to account for wet recirculation from the tower exit back to the tower entrance. The entering wet bulb temperature always higher than the ambient wet bulb temperature.

Reference:
Cooling Tower Fundamentals, SPX Cooling Technologies