Alternative raw materials chemicals continue to heat up
Coal chemicals are heating up
U.S. large quantities of synthetic ammonia plants have been left unused or reduced operating rates due to high natural gas prices. Faced with the shortage of natural gas, Agrium recently decided to gasify its 1.5 million-ton/year nitrogen fertilizer plant in Kenai with coal. The proposed gasification unit will use local low-sulfur coal and generate electricity to supply the Alaska grid. The coal gasification technology used in the installation is expected to be provided by Shell and is scheduled to be put into operation in 2011.
Using coal to produce fertilizers and chemicals is not new. At present, there are two other coal-based fertilizers and fuel plants in the United States: the Coffeyville Resources company in Coffeyville, Kansas, and the Dakota Gasification company in Nevada. The vast majority of China's nitrogen fertilizer industry uses coal as raw material. Sasol produces coal-based chemicals in South Africa. The rise in oil and natural gas prices means that more companies will implement raw material conversions.
However, the economics of coal-based chemicals vary from region to region. South Africa, Eastern Europe and China have abundant low-cost coal. In addition to the coal-based ammonia industry, China's production of vinyl chloride monomer through the coal-to-acetylene process is competitive in the international market, or the production of olefins from methanol through coal gasification is expected to have a cost advantage over conventional crackers.
According to GE Energy, its largest gasification technology transfer was in China. Since the company acquired Chevron Texaco in 2004 and owned the patent business, it has won five contracts. Under pressure from natural gas supply, China is looking at alternatives to coal-fired cogeneration chemicals (including methanol and synthetic ammonia). The United States is also increasing its interest in cogeneration chemicals or liquid fuels from coal.
US SRI Consulting believes that in China, the use of coal resources to increase production of chemical fertilizers and chemicals will help meet the trade gap. The current focus of the United States on the use of coal is power generation, and there are many opportunities for the development of its co-production of chemicals, especially acetyl products.
Oil Sand Petrochemical Plant Stands Out
Canada’s interest in using oil sands to produce heavy, sour crude oil as a source of raw materials for the petrochemical industry is growing. The oil sand upgrading gas from Suncor Energy's Fort McMurray area has been processed by Williams into 57,000 tons of polymer grade propylene. With the increase of oil sand upgrading raw materials, propylene production will further increase.
In addition, the Alberta Ministry of Energy and several oil and petrochemical companies (including Novartis Chemicals) are researching and constructing an asphalt refinery and petrochemical complex that invests more than US$7 billion in oil sands, including gasification. project. The daily fuel production of the facility is expected to reach 450,000 barrels, and petrochemical raw materials, hydrogen, synthetic ammonia, and electricity. Petrochemical products will account for 15% of the project's output.
The development of oil sands also provides development opportunities for industrial gas companies to expand their hydrogen business. Hydroprocessing of heavy crude oil is inseparable from hydrogen. Some experts predict that the Canadian oil sands utilization project will account for 25% to 30% of the total growth in the production or purchase of hydrogen in the global refinery in 2010.
The biochemical industry will wait and see
Chemical companies and agricultural companies are increasingly using agricultural raw materials to produce chemicals. DuPont's goal is that by 2015, 25% of its operating revenue will come from products made from renewable materials. The company's first major project is the biological production of 1,3-propanediol units, which are mainly used to manufacture the company's Sorona-brand polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT).
Companies such as DuPont and Cargill are also developing biorefinery and will use chemicals derived from agricultural products to produce chemicals. The results in this area have become attractive. Grain prices have remained relatively stable, while the price of hydrocarbon raw materials has increased. This is the main reason why Cargill's polylactic acid can compete with polymers produced from fossil raw materials. The current development in this area depends on the successful development of new varieties of enzymes that can use low-cost biomass, such as corn stalks, rather than the grain itself to produce chemical products. A major breakthrough in this area will help the United States soon develop a significant agricultural-based petrochemical industry.