Sonatrach has let a contract to Honeywell UOP LLC to provide a suite of its proprietary technologies for production of 200,000 tonnes/year of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) at its 80,000-b/d refinery in Arzew, Algeria.
As part of the contract, Honeywell UOP will deliver technology licensing, design services, key equipment, catalysts, and adsorbents for the project, the service provider said.
Alongside UOP’s Butamer technology, which isomerizes normal butane into isobutane, the technology package also includes a UOP C4 Oleflex unit to dehydrogenate isobutane into isobutylene, as well as a UOP Ethermax unit to convert isobutylene and methanol into a high-octane MTBE blending agent that contains no benzene or aromatics.
The technologies will enable Sonatrach to supply MTBE to the region’s refineries to produce fuels that meet increasingly strict specifications, including Euro 5-quality fuels, according to Bryan Glover, vice-president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s process technology and equipment business.
A value of the order was not disclosed.
This latest contract follows Sonatrach’s previous award of a €5.17-million, 18-month contract to Amec Foster Wheeler PLC to provide preliminary engineering works for construction of a the Arzew MTBE plant (OGJ Online, Dec. 20, 2016).
Designed to treat 75,000-tpy of methanol from Sonatrach’s Arzew CP1Z methanol and derivatives complex as well as 150,000 tpy of butane from its Arzew GP1Z LPG separation complex, the MTBE installation would help to improve octane quality of fuels produced at the company’s refineries.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
