Next Wave lets contract for Pasadena ethylene-to-alkylate plant

Next Wave Energy Partners LP has let a contract to McDermott International Inc. to provide technology licensing for a grassroots ethylene-to-alkylate production plant to be located adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel at Next Wave’s 53-acre site in Pasadena, Tex. (OGJ Online, Dec. 2, 2019).

McDermott's Lummus Technology will deliver the process design package (PDP) and license for its proprietary Dimer ethylene dimerization process, which converts ethylene to an unmatched high-purity butene-2 feed stream ideal for producing a higher-octane alkylate used for blending cleaner-burning gasoline required by the demands of modern and future high-performance engines, McDermott said.

Scheduled for start-up in mid-2022, the new plant—known as Project Traveler—will have the capability to consume 1.2 billion lb/year of ethylene feedstock to produce an estimated 28,000 b/d of alkylate.

McDermott said it will book the licensing and PDP contract—valued between $1-50 million—in its fourth-quarter 2019 backlog.

Upon announcing final investment decision on Project Traveler in November, Next Wave said the development is underpinned by long-term customer contracts for most of the plant’s planned nameplate capacity.

Energy Capital Partners and members of Next Wave’s senior management are providing equity financing for the project, the total cost of which was not disclosed, Next Wave said.

“Project Traveler was conceived to benefit from two important trends in our industry—growing demand for additional octane and abundant domestic supplies of natural gas liquids and their derivatives,” said Patrick Diamond, Next Wave’s executive chairman.

“By starting with a chemically pure feedstock and thereby avoiding the feedstock constraints typically found in refinery alkylation, our facility will produce one of the highest-quality alkylate products available in North America, which is particularly attractive for blending the cleaner-burning gasoline required by the high performance engines of today and tomorrow,” Diamond said.

To be marketed under the trade name Optimate, Next Wave’s alkylate product will offer qualities superior to traditional refinery alkylate because it can be produced with 96.0 road octane (98.0 RON), a low 3.5 Reid Vapor pressure, and 5 ppm or less of sulfur, the company said.

Design of the Project Traveler production site also includes the built-in ability to cost-effectively expand production capacity in the future, according to Next Wave.

Michael Bloesch, Next Wave’s chief executive officer, also confirmed that, to capitalize on incremental demand for its services, the company already has started engineering for a second alkylation unit at the Pasadena site. Bloesch, however, did not disclose a specific timeframe for addition of the second unit.

The Pasadena unit initially will receive ethylene feedstock via multiple pipelines, but the site also has been designed to accommodate receipt of feedstock and delivery of product by rail as future business opportunities warrant, Next Wave said.

The Optimate alkylate product will be delivered via direct-connection pipelines to major gasoline blending terminals in Pasadena, which have dock access to marine movements through the Houston Ship Channel as well as connections to major refined product distribution pipelines.