PetroChina's 1.2 million t/y Tarim ethylene plant started operating in the week ending 28 October, according to project-tracking publication chemXplore Weekly. The startup was among 10 project movements recorded that week.
BASF's alkyl polyglucosides (APG) production expansion in Cincinnati, Ohio, also started operating on 27 October. APG are surfactants used in detergents and personal care products.
KBR won contracts to revamp ammonia plants operated by AGF Nitrogen in Germany and Austria, covering SKW Piesteritz's Wittenberg Ammonia Plant 2 efficiency revamp and LAT Nitrogen's Linz Ammonia Plant No. 2 KRES revamp, both announced on 22 October.
On the biobased side, UPM officially opened its Leuna, Germany biorefinery on 15 October, though only enzymatic hydrolysis and lignin-based specialty chemicals had reached stable operation at the time of the report. Heidelberg Materials put its Geseke GeZero carbon capture project on hold on 22 October.
Stora Enso and Shanshan Technology are to co-develop lignin-derived hard carbon anode materials, and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical started a methanol demonstration plant at Mizushima using industrial gases and CO2.
