LyondellBasell surpasses 30% completion on Gulf Coast PO-TBA plant

LyondellBasell Industries NV is progressing with construction of what it is calling the world’s largest propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) plant at the company’s Houston-area complex in Channelview, Tex. (OGJ Online, Sept. 3, 2018; June 3, 2016).

Installation of several large pieces of process equipment, including a 601-tonne, 25 stories-high distillation tower was under way as of Feb. 21, marking a shift from infrastructure work to vertical assembly, LyondellBasell said.

Over the next few months, manpower will continue to ramp up at both the Channelview and associated Pasadena, Tex., site as more large pieces of equipment are delivered and installed.

Construction on the overall project has now surpassed 30%, the operator confirmed.

Heading into yearend 2019, LyondellBasell completed the first phase of project construction, which included pouring nearly 83,000 cu yards of concrete and installing 160 miles of pipe at two construction sites (OGJ Online, Nov. 11, 2019).

Once in operation, the 140-acre PO-TBA plant in Channelview will produce 1 billion lb/year of PO and 2.2 billion lb/year of TBA, the latter of which will move to an associated 34-acre ethers unit to be built at the company’s Bayport complex near Pasadena for conversion into high-octane gasoline components methyl tertiary butyl ether and ethyl tertiary butyl ether.

“I am pleased to see our team making significant headway in safely driving the next phase of this project forward,” said Michael VanDerSnick, LyondellBasell senior vice-president for Americas manufacturing. “Once built, it will meet rising global demand for urethanes that people use every day and create cleaner-burning oxyfuels that help improve air quality.”

LyondellBasell plans to sell PO and derivative products from the new Channelview plant to both domestic and global customers, while MTBE and ETBE oxyfuels from the associated Bayport unit will be primarily sold to buyers in Latin America and Asia.

A portion of TBA production, however, will remain in the US market as high-purity isobutylene for use in tires and lubricants, the company said.

Most production from the dual-location project will be exported via the Houston Ship Channel.

Based on an analysis by the Greater Houston Partnership, LyondellBasell said it expects the $2.4 billion PO-TBA project to generate more than $450 million in tax benefits for the county, school district, community college, and other local taxing districts over a 10-year period. The total project will create more than 2,200 construction jobs at the peak of construction and 160 permanent positions.