Next Wave lets contract for Texas ethylene-to-alkylate plant
Next Wave Energy Partners LP has let a contract to a division of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. to license technology for its grassroots Project Traveler ethylene-to-alkylate production plant to be located adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel at the operator’s 53-acre site in Pasadena, Tex. (OGJ Online, Nov. 21, 2019).
DuPont Clean Technologies will supply its proprietary technology licensing, engineering services, and equipment for a 28,000-b/sd STRATCO alkylation unit to enable the site to generate low-sulfur, high-octane, low-RVP alkylate with zero olefins—exceeding the current US gasoline specifications with an octane greater than 96.0 (R+M/2)—to help meet North America’s increasing demand for octane and cleaner-burning gasoline, DuPont said on Feb. 6.
Scheduled for start-up in mid-2022, Next Wave’s Project Traveler plant—which, once completed, will become the world’s first standalone alkylation complex—will have the capability to consume 1.2 billion lb/year of ethylene feedstock to produce high-quality alkylate blendstock for the gasoline market.
The contract award follows DuPont’s technical contributions and advising during the last several years to progress Project Traveler to final investment decision, said Dan Fahey, Next Wave’s vice-president of engineering and technology.
DuPont revealed neither a value of the contract nor further details regarding its scope of work on the project.
Next Wave previously let a contract valued between $1-50 million to McDermott International Inc.’s soon-to-be-sold Lummus Technology division to deliver the process design package 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 (OGJ Online, Dec. 13, 2019).
Lummus Technology sale
As part of a comprehensive prepackaged Chapter 11 process to de-lever its balance sheet by eliminating more than $4.6 billion of debt and position the company for long-term growth, McDermott has entered into a share-and-asset purchase agreement with a joint partnership between the Chatterjee Group and Rhône Group under which the partners will serve as the stalking-horse bidder in a court-supervised sale process for Lummus Technology, McDermott said on Jan. 21.
As part of the agreement, the Chatterjee-Rhône partnership plans to buy Lummus Technology for a base purchase price of $2.725 billion, with McDermott to have the option to retain or purchase, as applicable, a 10% common equity ownership interest in the entity.
McDermott said it expected to hold an auction within 45 days of the Jan. 21 announcement to solicit higher or better bids for the Lummus Technology business, at which time either the Chatterjee-Rhône partnership or the auction’s winning bidder will purchase Lummus Technology as part of the Chapter 11 process, subject to regulatory and court approval.
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.
