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| Stock Number: |
600107 |
| Capacity: |
VCM/EDC-130KMTA & PVC/ S-PVC -160KMTA |
| Year Built: |
1979 |
| Year Closed: |
2003 |
| Status: |
Available |
| Technology: |
ChlorAlkali Plant - DeNora Pemalec Technology, EDC/VCM - Eythyl/BF Goodrich Technology, S-PVC - Geon Technology |
| Raw Material: |
Salt, Ethylene |
| Documentation: |
Very Little |
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| Products Produced: |
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| Chlorine - 90 KMTA
Caustic Soda & Caustic Potash - 30 KMTA
Sodium Hypochlorite - 12 KMTA
HydroChloric Acid (HCl) - 8 KMTA
Hydrogen - (burned)
Ethylene DiChloride (EDC)
Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) - 130 KMTA
Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) - SPVC - 160 KMTA |
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| Utilities Consumed: |
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| 30 MW electricity ( 10 MW produced onsite), Steam produced onsite, Fuel Oil |
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| Upgrades: |
| A significant expansion ($18 MMUS) took place in the PVC facility in 1999 in which two reactors were added along with a second drying line (Niro). Also, in 1999 an EDC vaporizer and a new cracking furnace were installed. A new SS EDC column was installed in 2001. |
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| Brief Overview: |
| ChlorAlkali Plant - Built 1974, EDC/VCM - Built 1979, S-PVC Built 1979
The plant sites on 110 acres which is somewhat of a border between an Industrial and Commercial area. There is industry to the South of the plant, including a munitions facility and the refinery which supplied ethylene. About one mile to the North of the plant is a resort and hotel. There is rail access into the plant and a major port some 35 km away. Replacement value was estimated at $285 MMUS by an outside firm for insurance purposes in 1998. The annual budget in 1998 was $39 MMUS |
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| Process Description: |
| ChlorAlkali:
The 90 KMTA Chlorine operation consists of 36 DeNora Mercury cells operating at 155 vDC and 150 kA, installed in 1973. Salt was received from the Dead Sea and allowed the plant to produce either Sodium or Potassium based caustic. The dry salt is dissolved in water and cleaned using a series of Niagara and Kelly leaf filters.
The cell water is cleaned up (Mercury removal) in a separate plant which used three Krauss-Maffei 6 m2 rotary vacuum filters (type TSF St C) with diatomaceous earth. These are rubber lined carbon steel and plastic filters. Nash pumps are used for the vacuum. A small filter press is used in the final cleaning step.
There is a small sodium hypochlorite facility which appears to be operational. Here, caustic is reacted with Chlorine. Most of the equipment is fiberglass, plastic, or rubber/plastic lined.
Power House:
The power plant produces steam using an ABCO boiler commissioned in 1995 and electricity using a Brown Boveri turbine and reducer driving an ABB generator. The boiler is capable of burning Bunker C oil and Hydrogen (byproduct from the Chlorine cells). It uses a Pillard burner. There is a standby spare Nebraska/Wabash boiler. The generator produces 10 megawatts at 22 KV voltage. The main electrical system (outside power) takes 161 KV through 2 – 30 MVA transformers (one backup) which drop the voltage to 22 KV. Smaller transformers take the voltage down to 3.3 KV or 400 V. The current personnel did not know about PCB’s in the transformers. It would be wise to have these tested. Total plant electrical consumption was 30 megawatts with 3.5 megawatts going to the PVC plant.
EDC/VCM:
Ethylene was received by a 20 km – 6” pipeline from the Carmel Olefins refinery directly to the South of the Acre facility (pipeline owned by the refinery). It is a “balanced” BF Goodrich design EDC/VCM facility with a direct chlorination reactor, cracking furnaces, and an Oxychlorination plant for conversion of the byproduct HCl back to EDC. There is 3,300 m3 of VCM storage in two large spheres (43’ and 53’ diameter) which run at 3.5 atmospheres. EDC was imported since the rest of the facility could run higher production rates. There is a floating dock less than 1 km offshore with a pipeline to the EDC storage tanks in this plant. Loads as large as 8,000 tons can be handled with this system.
The direct chlorination reactor (boiling) is 100 m3 and uses a 4:1 recycle of liquid EDC. It runs at 80 degC and 2 bars and typically runs 30% full and uses an iron based catalyst. The oxychlorination section uses a fluidized bed catalytic reactor to convert HCl, Ethylene, and air to EDC. This reactor operates at 260 degC and 9 bars.
The EDC is purified by distillation, and then heated prior to entering the cracking furnaces using fired vaporizers. The cracking furnaces operate at 480 degC and 15 bar. The resulting VCM, HCl, and chlorinated by-products are then separated by distillation. The VCM is sent to storage and the HCl is recycled to the oxychlorination section. A fluidized bed incinerator is used to convert the chlorinated byproducts to CO2, H2O, and HCl. This HCl is also recycled back to the oxychlorination section.
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PVC:
There were originally three PVC plants at the facility. The first was shut down and already demolished. The second was recently being demolished when the demo company experienced some insurance problems and had to temporarily halt the work. It was reported that the demo company paid about $100k US for the plant (which seems high after we viewed PVC2). The third plant is called PVC3 and was put in operation in 1979 using GEON suspension technology.
This process produces a 30% PVC slurry, leaving unreacted VCM in the solution as a solvent. The VCM is stripped and recycled. The drying process first uses a centrifuge to reduce water levels to 26%. This is followed by the fluidized bed dryers which remove the remaining water.
The PVC plant uses six reactors of 80 m3 each. They are 304 SS with carbon steel pipe coil jackets and 250 kw bottom mixers. The carbon steel jackets reportedly had some water leaks to the outside. Visual inspection confirms that this is most likely true.
There are two finishing lines. The older line uses a 1977 Broadbent centrifuge followed by a Rosin fluid bed dryer and runs at 5 tons/hr. The newer line uses a 1993 Broadbent centrifuge followed by a complete Niro system, including a large fluid bed dryer (12m X 4.5m X 6.8m) and runs at 15 tons/hr. Combined, these systems take the wet PVC at 26% water and can produce 400 tons/day of dry PVC (<0.2% water). The product runs through two Rotex classifiers before going to storage.
There is a small pilot plant associated with this PVC facility. |
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| Major Equipment: |
| Mercury electrolytic cells.
1995 ABCO boiler - 87 ton/hr steam, Wabash boiler , 40 ton/hr steam.
10 Megawatt turbine driven power train.
EDC/VCM , 5 furnaces, 13 columns.
1400 HP Atlas Copco Air Compressor.
1400 HP York Chiller.
6 SS, bottom agitated, jacketed PVC reactors
Niro and Rosin fluid bed dryer.
Rotex classifiers (2). |
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