Borouge lets contract for Ruwais petrochemical expansion

Update: Borouge made a final investment decision to move forward with the expansion of the integrated polyolefins complex in Ruwais, UAE in Nov. 2021 (OGJ Online, Nov. 17, 2021).

Abu Dhabi Polymers Co. Ltd. (Borouge), a joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and Borealis AG, has let a contract to Axens of France to provide technology licensing for a suite of new units for the proposed fourth expansion of Borouge’s integrated polyolefins complex in Ruwais, about 250 km west of Abu Dhabi City, UAE (OGJ Online, July 18, 2017).

As part of the licensing contract for the Borouge 4 project, Axens will supply a 124,000-tonne/year methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) coupled with a 50,000-tpy 1-butene production unit, as well as a 75,000-tpy unit based on its proprietary AlphaHexol technology for production of high-purity 1-hexene by ethylene trimerisation suitable as comonomer for various types of polyethylenes (PE), including linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) production, the service provider said.

Additionally, Axens will provide a methyl acetylene and propadiene (MAPD) unit, a C₄ hydrogenation unit, and a second-stage pygas hydrogenation unit for downstream of the project’s new steam cracker.

Axens’s scope of delivery includes the supply of process books, catalysts and adsorbents, proprietary equipment, training, and technical services.

Now under construction at the same location of the operator’s three existing plants, the Borouge 4 complex will host what will become world’s largest mixed-feed cracker with an estimated ethylene output of 1.8 million tpy as well as a total olefins and aromatics production capacity of 3.3 million tpy using a variety of feedstocks such as ethane, butane, and naphtha from ADNOC’s refining and gas processing operations.

Alongside ethylene, the cracker and its derivative units will produce propylene, butadiene, MTBE, 1-butene, pygas,1-hexene, and benzene, with ethylene and propylene to be converted into PE and polypropylene (PP) products.

Axens, which did not disclose a value of the licensing contract, said Borouge plans to more than double the current 4.5 million-tpy capacity of its production site by 2030.

Borouge previously let a contract to WorleyParsons Ltd. to provide project management consultancy for the Borouge 4 expansion, as well a contract to Maire Tecnimont SPA subsidiary Tecnimont SPA to deliver front-end engineering and design services for the project (OGJ Online, Mar. 21, 2019; Feb. 26, 2019).

These contracts for Borouge 4 follow Borouge’s earlier award to Tecnimont to deliver engineering, procurement, and construction services for a fifth PP plant (PP5) now under construction at the site that will have a maximum production capacity of 480,000 tpy (OGJ Online, July 13, 2018).

While the PP5 project—which will expand the operator’s PP production capacity by more than 25% to 2.24 million tpy—is scheduled to be completed during third-quarter 2021, the Borouge 4 expansion remains on schedule for startup sometime in 2023.

Both Borouge projects come as part of ADNOC’s previously announced plans to accelerate expansion initiatives at the Ruwais refining and petrochemical complex as part of the company’s $45-billion program to become a global downstream leader under a new combined model of strategic partnerships and investments (OGJ Online, May 23, 2018; May 14, 2018).