Sasol starts up first unit at Louisiana petchem complex

Sasol Ltd. has commissioned the first of seven production units scheduled to come online as part of its long-planned Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), an integrated ethane cracker and downstream derivatives complex under construction in Westlake, La., near Lake Charles (OGJ Online, June 7, 2016; Nov. 3, 2014).

Originally scheduled for full startup in December 2018, the complex’s linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit produced first product in January before achieving “beneficial” operations on Feb. 13, Sasol said.

The milestone startup follows the safe and successful commissioning of the steam system, which produced first steam on Aug. 1, 2018.

All utilities to support early process units at LCCP were fully operational by the end of November 2018, Sasol added.

Alongside its 1.5 million-tonne/year ethane cracker, LCCP will include six downstream chemical plants, including:

• Two large polymers plants capable of produced a combined 900,000 tpy of low-density (LDPE) and LLDPE.

• A 300,000-tpy ethylene oxide-ethylene glycol (EO-EG) plant.

• A 100,000-tpy exthoxylation unit.

• A 173,000-tpy Ziegler alcohols plant, which will include a 30,000-tpy Guerbet alcohols unit and 30,000-tpy alumina unit.

LCCP update

In a Feb. 8 update on LCCP to investors, Sasol said that, as of yearend 2018, engineering and procurement activities were mostly completed, and construction progress was at 84%, with overall project completion at 94% and a capital expenditure amounting to $10.9 billion.

The company also confirmed that several factors within and beyond its control—including inclement weather, scope additions, and absenteeism—impacted the completion schedule and associated cost for the remaining units, resulting in the project’s overall capital-cost estimate now revised to a range of $11.6-11.8 billion from a previous $11.13 billion (OGJ Online, Aug. 26, 2016).

Currently, Sasol said the timeline for LCCP’s remaining units to achieve beneficial operation has been revised as follows:

• Ethane cracker: July (from February).

• EO-EG unit: June (from February).

• LDPE unit: August (from March).

• Zeigler alcohols unit: November.

• Guerbet alcohols unit: January 2020.

• Ethoxylation unit: December.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].