The adiponitrile maker Butachimie successfully completed the maintenance that had started in end-September on its Chalampe site on 1 December. However, it will take some time to resume commercial production. The company has reported that it is carrying out the pre-commissioning works now and will restart the plant in mid-December. Butachimie will gradually ramp up production for the first several weeks after the launch.

Apart from the preventative maintenance and the inspection operations aimed at meeting the regulatory requirements, the company will also introduce the new technology provided by Invista. Compared to the existing technologies, it will allow Butachimie to reduce energy consumption, increase process reliability and decrease capital intensity. Invista and Solvay holding a 50% stake in the company each will invest over €250 million in this project known as Atlas.

Butachimie is one of the largest butadiene buyers in Europe, consuming around 30,000 t of the material monthly. It produces the key intermediates for Nylon 6.6, adiponitrile and hexamethylenediamine.

 

Interested in more news from Chem-Courier? To get free two-week trial access to our information services, fill in this form.

 

Solvay is planning to double the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) output of its plant in Changshu, China, until H1 2022, according to its press release. ‘Solvay’s decision to raise Solef PVDF capacity in Changshu, which follows our recent announcement to raise capacity in Europe, proves our continuous commitment to meeting our customers’ needs worldwide,’ Solvay’s Executive Committee member Augusto Di Donfrancesco has commented.

 

Baltic Chemical Company (BCC), a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha, will build two ethylene crackers with capacity of 1.4 million tpy each in Ust-Luga, Russia. Gazprom will construct a gas processing unit there to supply ethane to new plants. They, in turn, will provide the polyethylene units BCC will also build there with the produced ethylene. The company will use McDermott’s and Univation’s ethylene and polyethylene production technologies respectively and get engineering services from China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation. The first cracker will start up in Q4 2023—Q1 2024 and the second one in Q4 2024—Q1 2025.

Interested in more news from Chem-Courier? To get free two-week trial access to our information services, fill in this form.