Turkish operator lets contract for country’s first PDH unit
Ceyhan Polipropilen Uretim AS—a joint venture of Ronesans Holding and Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach SPA—has let a contract to Honeywell UOP LLC to provide process technology for propylene production at a grassroots petrochemical complex in the Ceyhan Mega Petrochemistry Industry Zone of Ceyhan, Turkey.
As part of the contract, Honeywell UOP will license its proprietary C3 Oleflex technology for the new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit, which will be equipped to produce 457,000 tonnes/year of polymer-grade propylene for production of polypropylene at the complex, the service provider said.
Alongside technology licensing, Honeywell UOP also will provide customized basic engineering design, services, equipment, catalysts, and adsorbents for the plant.
Once completed, the PDH plant will be Turkey’s first.
The new unit will enable Ceyhan Polipropilen Uretim to manufacture polypropylene domestically, reducing Turkey’s dependence on imports from manufacturers in the Middle East and Western Europe. Demand for polypropylene in Turkey—which accounts for half the total demand for polypropylene in the region—is expected to rise at about 2.5%/year over the next decade, Honeywell UOP said.
The PDH plant will reduce Turkish imports of polypropylene by 25%, as well as offset about $13 billion in imported petrochemicals, representing a third of Turkey’s foreign trade deficit in manufacturing.
In 2017, Turkey imported more than 2 million tonnes of polypropylene, according to the service provider.
Ceyhan Polipropilen Uretim, which was formed early this year, plans to begin production at its new $1.2-billion, 450,000-tpy polypropylene plant in 2023, according to a Dec. 3, 2018, release from Ronesans Holding.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
