ARTÍCULO: Etileno XXI 2

8/19/2019 ARTÍCULO: Etileno XXI 2

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Mexico’s major grassroots effort: Ethylene XXI

project

The federal government, through Pemex Gas and Petroquímica Básica, using the law that regulates

Mexican oil, decided to promote private investment to build a new major petrochemical complex calledEthylene XXI.

One of Mexico’s main goals is to efficiently develop its energy sector. This nation has put into place theNational Development Plan 2007 –2012, which is focused on s trengthening the exploration and production ofcrude oil and natural gas ; modernizing and expanding refining capacity; increasing s torage capacity, supplyand transportation of energy products; and building a series of processing plants for natural gas and itsderivatives.

The federal government, through Pemex Gas and Petroquímica Básica, us ing the law that regulates Mexicanoil, decided to promote private investment to build a new major petrochemical complex called Ethylene XXI.The investment required to build this new mod ern complex is es timated at US$2.7 B. The project scopeincludes building an ethylene cracker in Coatzacoalcos; Pemex Gas and Petroquímica Básica will s upplyethane for the new cracker. The produced ethylene will be used to support derivative facilities to manufacturepolyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and other derivatives.

The new project s ite is 192 hectares (ha); 60% will be us ed by the physical complex, 10% of the area will beused during construction and then re-vegetated, with a further 30 ha set aside as a permanent conservationarea.

PROJECT SCOPE

Pemex used a public auction in which several companies were invited to participate as owner -operators forEthylene XXI. Mexico’s Ides a Group and Brazil’s Bras kem were selected as the companies to create the newJV. Both companies presented the best proposal for the development of Ethylene XXI.

Aerial view of the construction site of

Ethylene XXI.

The new petrochemical complex will meet domes tic demand for petrochemical products and replace importedmaterials with high-quality petrochemicals at highly competitive prices. One goal for Ethylene XXI is to replace40% of current PE imports. The project will also enable production of more value-added products bymonetizing ethane as a raw material for petrochemicals rather than consuming it as energy.

Startup of the new facility is forecast to begin during the second half of 2016. Part of the package offered byPemex was a long-term agreement to supply ethane for the next 20 years. The ethane supply will be anaddition to what Pemex already supplies to Pemex Petrochemical.



PROJECT MILESTONES

Ethylene XXI Project is over 54% complete. The goal is to be 75% complete by the end of 2014. Four newprocess ing plants should be operational by September 2016: three PE units and one ethylene cracker. Theproject also includes electrical power for the facility, along with a control room,laboratories, maintenancefacilities, administrative facilities , cafeterias, storage facilities, and an electricsubstation with 22 towers.

Installation of one of the ethylene splitter

columns.

The civil contractors have a 95% completion rate on these ancillary facilities, and the mechanical assemblyphase is 80% complete. At present, the electromechanical phase is under way in which 80 km of wire andtubing will be ins talled per week. Approximately, 14,600 employees are working on the s ite, and thisemployment level will be maintained until April 2015. When complete, the facility will employ 440 permanentfull-time workers.

PROCESS

Out of the total 180 Mbpd of ethane that PEMEX produces in the Coatzacoalcos area, it only uses 88 Mbpd fordomestic petrochemical production. The remaining ethane is reinjected back into its gas production operationsor is s old as fuel. However, PEMEX will provide Ethylene XXI with 66 Mbpd of the ethane that was previo uslysold as fuel for the production of ethylene and, ultimately, PE.



Workers prepare the separation columnfor transport to the construction site.

PROCESS UNITS

The project includes the construction and operation of several process plants, including an ethane cracker,with a nominal capacity of approximately one mi llion tpy (MMtpy) of ethylene; two high -density PE (HDPE)plants, with capacities of approximately 400 Mtpy and 3 50 Mtpy; and one low-dens ity PE (LDPE) uni t with acapacity of approximately 300 Mtpy. The ethylene produced at the cracker will be us ed as raw material for thethree PE plants.

The facilities will be located in the municipality of Nanchital de Lázaro Cárdenas del Rio, in the s tate ofVeracruz (southeas t Mexico) near the PEMEX Cangrejera petrochemical complex. It is in close proximi ty to thePEMEX Pajaritos Maritime Terminal, on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which is the main petrochemical-producing region in Mexico.

TECHNOLOGY LICENSORS AND CONTRACTORS

The ethane cracker technology is licens ed from Technip. The HDPE technology is from INEOS, one of thelargest chemical companies in the world; while the LDPE technology is licensed from LyondellBasell, theworld’s third-largest independent chemical company. Odebrecht-ICA Fluor are the contractors for the s itepreparation and construction phas es. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) will be conductedby a JV venture between Technip and Odebrecht-ICA Fluor (Fig. 1).



Fig. 1. Process diagram of Ethylene XXI.

The ethylene is produced by the pyrolysis of ethane in direct-fired-heated furnaces. Polymer-graded ethyleneis separated from coproducts via a purification train, and is sent to the HDPE and LDPE units. For LDPE

operations, the ethylene is subjected to gas -phase, free-radical polymerization under high pressures, using atubular reactor. With the additions of peroxides and modifiers , up to 17 types of LDPE res ins can be produced.The HDPE process is a low-pressure, low-temperature reaction using continuous liquid-phase reactors.Ethylene and comonomer, in the presence of an activator, produce the HDPE resin.

At the height of the construction activity,nearly 15,000 workers were on site.



Unloading of the buried bullet system,which will be used instead of spheresas a safety precaution in storing

hydrocarbons.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Besides the construction of the major plants, the project also includes infrastructure installations, such as anunderground 3.7-km water pipeline to the PEMEX La Cangrejera water system located to the north of theproject site, and an underground 1.6-km ethylene pipeline from a distance less than 1 km from the s ite fenceline. As an alternate ethylene s upply from the PEMEX facility to the PE units, an underground 1.6-km pipelinefor natural gas will be supplied from PEMEX at a connecting pipeline located 1 km south of the project site; anda 5-km electricity transm ission line from the substation will furnish 400 MW. HP

Interview with Cleantho de Paiva Leite Filho, Director of Business and Development

and Communication of Braskem-Idesa

As part of the JV for Ethylene XXI, Hydrocarbon Processing discussed several key issueswith Braskem-Idesa’s Director of Business and Development and Communication,Cleantho de Paiva Leite Filho.

HP: What are the advantages of the technology that Braskem chose for the

construction

of plants?

CPLF: The technologies chosen for the plants were Technip for the cracker, INEOS’Innovene S (slurry loop) for the two HDPE plants and LyondellBasell’s Lupotech-T

(tubular) for the LDPE plant. For the cracker, the main factors that contributed to theselection were experience, energy balance, need to maximize ethylene production and the

cost of the total project. For the polymer plants (HDPE and LDPE), the main factors weresuitability of the products for the principle markets we will be selling, the experience ofthe licensor in similar capacity plants and the total CAPEX and OPEX.

HP: Will Mexico stop importing PE with this new plant?

CPLF: No, because Mexico’s PE demand in 2015 will be around 2.1 MMton. The other

local supplier only produces 0.65 MMtpy, and Braskem/Idesa will only produce 1 MM-tpy. There will still be a need for imported materials to cover the gap. The market is

expected to continue growing by 2%/yr to 4%/yr. We will greatly reduce Mexico’simports, but we will still have a deficit.

HP: Can you mention some details about the equipment installed inside the plants?

CPLF: We are installing more than 700 units of primary equipment, as well as severalhundred units of secondary equipment, for a total of 38,000 tons in the entire project.Among these are the ethylene separation columns that measure 92 m in height and weigh



over 900 tons; and the 3 m in diameter water cooling network; the use of a buried bullet

system instead of spheres, which is a less dangerous option in the event of a fire, and,finally, the onsite electric cogeneration plant that will produce 150 MW.

HP: What were some of the technical difficulties that had to be solved in the

different stagesof construction?

CPLF: The main difficulties in a megaproject of this size are the planning andcoordination. There are many parallel fronts in EPC, which are in progress all over the

world. This project involved companies in over 20 countries around the world.Additionally, the onsite work involves civil, mechanical and electrical engineeringcomponents simultaneously, with nearly 15,000 workers. Logistics include controlling

vehicular traffic; the flow of personnel and trucks; supplying food to feed all of theworkers; transportation to and from the work site; controlling access to the site; and

controlling the entry and exit of materials, tubing cranes, and more ....and all this whilemaintaining an impressive safety record. The project has more than 50 million man hoursas of August 2014. This was a major coordination challenge. HP

ARTÍCULO: Etileno XXI 2

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