Aker Kvaerner to provide process design package for PetroChina's polypropylene facility

Mumbai: Norwegian engineering firm Aker Kvaerner will provide the extended process design package and technical advisory services for PetroChina Petrochemical Company's new 300KTA polypropylene facility which will use Dow's Unipol polypropylene process technology.

The world-scale facility, to be built in Fushun in China's Liaoning, is scheduled for completion in 2010.

This is the fourth polypropylene plant in China in the past 24 months to use the Unipol process technology and the third such project to be awarded to Aker Kvaerner over the last year.

"The award of a further polyolefins project in China recognizes Aker Kvaerner's extensive project competence in Dow's technology and our strategic commitment to both PetroChina and the People's Republic of China," Johan Cnossen, president of Aker Kvaerner's AK process unit, said.

"I am pleased that PetroChina has chosen Unipol polypropylene technology," said Molly Peifang Zhang, business vice president, Dow Technology Licensing. "With this new licence and the other three Unipol polypropylene licences in China within the past two years, Dow Technology Licensing has become a major player in polypropylene technology in China. Our customer-focused strategy and technological advantage will ensure the long-term success of our customers."
 
The PetroChina Fushun licence agreement includes production capability for a range of polypropylene resins, including: homopolymers, random copolymers and impact copolymers for various grades of plastics.

Dow Technology Licensing, a business group of Dow Chemical Company, provides the process technology worldwide.
 
The Unipol process technology is being used to produce more than 10 million metric tons of polypropylene per year - more than 16 per cent of the total global capacity, Aker Kvaerner said.