Chevron Phillips Chemical adding new unit at Old Ocean

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP (CPChem), a joint venture of Chevron Corp. and Phillips 66, has undertaken a project to expand production of alpha olefins with addition of a grassroots on-purpose 1-hexene plant near its Sweeny petrochemical complex in Old Ocean, Tex.

The project, which broke ground on May 25, will include construction of a new 1-hexene unit equipped with CPChem’s proprietary technology that, once in operation, will use a feedstock of ethylene to produce 266,000 tonnes/year of high-purity, comonomer-grade 1-hexene, a critical component used in producing polyethylene (PE), the operator said.

Scheduled to begin official construction during third-quarter 2021 for targeted startup 2023, the planned Old Ocean 1-hexene project comes as part of CPChem’s program to help meet customers’ needs as global PE demand continues to grow, according to Mitch Eichelberger, executive vice-president of CPChem’s polymers and specialties business.

To be equipped with the latest advances in process design for maximum production, optimized resource efficiency, and reduced emissions in line with the company’s long-term sustainability strategy, the Old Ocean unit will join CPChem’s current operation of the world’s largest on-purpose 1-hexene plant at its Cedar Bayou chemical complex in Baytown, Tex. (OGJ Online, June 13, 2014).

Following commissioning of the Old Ocean plant, CPChem said it will have a total US 1-hexene capacity of 650,000 tpy.

The proposed Old Ocean expansion follows CPChem’s 2018 completion of the second and final phase of its $6-billion US Gulf Coast petrochemical project, which included startup of two 500,000-tpy PE plants in Old Ocean and a 1.5-million tpy ethane cracker at Cedar Bayou to help meet robust global demand for ethylene and ethylene derivatives based on abundant, cost-advantaged shale gas feedstock produced from US shale resources (OGJ Online, Mar. 12, 2018; Sept. 20, 2017).