Shell Nanhai BV, a subsidiary of Shell PLC, along with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), has awarded a contract to Shell Catalyst & Technologies (SC&T) for the third expansion of ethylene production capacity at the CNOOC & Shell Petrochemicals Co. Ltd.’s (CSPC) petrochemical complex in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China.
The project is a 50-50 joint venture between the two companies, and the expansion is set to take place at the Daya Bay Economic & Technological Development Zone.
Under the contract signed on February 27, SC&T will provide a suite of technologies for the Phase 3 expansion, including a proprietary production process for styrene monomer and propylene oxide (SMPO), OMEGA catalytic process for ethylene-oxide-ethylene glycol (EO-EG) manufacturing, and technology for the production of linear alpha olefins (LAO) for a new LAO plant, which will be built as part of the project.
Additionally, the contract includes the provision of associated catalysts for the Phase 3 growth project, which will feature a new 1.6-million tonne/year (tpy) ethylene cracker.
The Phase 3 expansion project follows the partners’ announcement in May 2020 that they would proceed with project development, which was initially intended to include only the construction of a new 1.5-million tpy cracker.
CSPC had previously commissioned a 1.2-million tpy ethylene cracker in 2018, and the remaining derivatives units under the complex’s Phase 2 expansion were started up in April 2021.