Growing global propylene demand leads to new projects

Fuel Fix ^ | August 28, 2014 | Rhiannon Meyers

[thackney]

Growing global demand is pushing a flurry of new construction, especially on the Texas Gulf Coast, of units for direct manufacture of propylene — a key chemical building block historically derived as a byproduct of other processes .

In North America, propylene primarily has come from petrochemical plants using petroleum-derived naphtha as a feedstock. But that’s changing as the plants switch to ethane, a natural gas liquid that is now abundant and cheap because of the nation’s surging natural gas production.

The ethane feedstock, however, produces little propylene.

Propylene supplies have declined, contributing to occasional shortages, according to Enterprise Products Partners, which two years ago announced plans to build a propylene manufacturing unit in Texas.

Meanwhile, the globe is hungry for more of the chemical, which is essential for making films, packaging and synthetic fibers. The world consumes about 90 million metric tons each year of propylene but that’s expected to increase to 130 million metric tons within the next decade, according to new report by IHS, a Houston-based energy analysts firm.

“Much of the demand growth is in Asia, especially in China,” said IHS analyst Chuck Carr, an expert in propylene, in an interview with Fuel Fix. “As you have people who move from poverty levels into the middle class they tend to buy things that are made out of plastic.”

With existing production unable to keep pace with rising demand, the need for “on-purpose” production of the chemical has dramatically increased, the IHS report said.

In 2003, less than 3 percent of propylene made worldwide was produced on purpose rather than as a byproduct, according to IHS. By 2013, purposeful production had grown to 12 percent and could rise to 30 percent by 2023, according to the report.

That’s good news for companies putting their money behind new propane dehydrogenation units, which convert propane into propylene.

There’s only one such facility in the U.S.

Originally operated by PetroLogistics in the Houston Ship Channel, the plant is among the largest of its kind in the world and employs about 100 people. The Houston petrochemical supplier was acquired earlier this year by Flint Hills Resources, the refining arm of Koch Industries.

But plans call for six more plants in North America by late 2018, according to the report.

Within a year of Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners unveiling plans to build a new unit in Texas that would consume 35,000 barrels per day of propane, the natural gas and crude oil pipeline company had signed contracts to sell all 1.65 billion pounds of propylene it expects to generate per year and announced that it was gauging demand for expanded capacity.

The plant is slated to be operating mid-2016, a slight delay because permitting took longer than expected, Carr said.

Dow is also planning to build a new plant, slated to come online in 2015. The plant will be roughly the same size as the Enterprise Products’ plant, and Dow intends to use all their propylene produced for internal consumption, Carr said.

[thackney]

Weekly U.S. Ending Stocks of Propane and Propylene
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WPRSTUS1&f=W

[Jack Hydrazine]

More people must be wearing thermal underwear because of global warming.

[thackney]

Lots of uses.

How is propylene used?
http://www.shell.com/global/products-services/solutions-for-businesses/chemicals/products/lower-olefins/propylene.html

The materials that are derived from propylene include: polypropylene; acrylonitrile (which is converted to acrylic fibres and coatings); propylene oxide (which then goes into polyurethane resins and other chemicals); oxo alcohols (which are used in PVC plasticisers and coatings); cumene (which is ultimately used to make epoxy resins and polycarbonate); and isopropyl alcohol (which is used as a solvent).

As a result, propylene is a key component of countless end use products. Examples include automobile headlights, taillights, disk brake pads and bumpers; carpets; CDs and optical disks; clear film food wrap; eyeglasses; flexible foams used in bedding and furniture; rigid foam insulation; impact-resistant and bullet-proof windows; moulded plastic goods such as buckets, food containers, kitchen utensils and wastebaskets; nitrile rubber hoses, seals and gaskets; paints and protective coatings; grocery bags; synthetic fibres for blankets, sweaters, socks and fleeces; water cooler bottles; and wood products such as plywood, oriented strand board and laminates.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Ya, I know. I was just joking.

[thackney]

I figured, I just used your post as a reason for more info.

But underarmor and the like has probably helped add to the demand.

[Repeal The 17th]

[Vinnie]

And antifreeze. Ethylene glycol is being/been phased out and replaced by propylene glycol. Ethylene is poisonous. Polypropylene isn’t.
I’ve worked on several chillers that the mfgr. insists on ethylene glycol only.
Getting difficult to find. Available, but not common anymore.

[RossA]

The propane/propylene chart is misleading in this context. The problem is too little propylene even with huge supplies of propane. So PDH plants will be moneymakers.

[thackney]

Agreed, I liked it for including the past range of stocks, but propane dominates the volume.