JUBAIL, Saudi Arabia—Sadara Chemical Co., a joint venture of Dow Chemical Co. and Saudi Aramco, has started up the Middle Eastern mixed feed cracker.
The MFC is made up of 12 furnaces. Of these, seven will be used to crack ethane, while the remaining five will be used to crack naphtha. Three of the five liquid furnaces are designed so that they can switch between gas and liquid feedstock, Sadara said in an Aug. 28 news release.
"The mixed feed cracker is the heart of the Sadara chemical complex and the single most important component that underpins our vision to be a game changer within the local and regional chemical industry,” said Sadara CEO Ziad Al-Labban.
“Sadara is a fundamental cornerstone in Dow's strategic actions to deliver consistent, long term earnings growth for our shareholders and enhanced value and market access for our customers," Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris said.
He described the MFC as a “pivotal next step in realizing the full value creation of this world-scale integrated complex.”
Ethylene and propylene produced by the MFC will be converted to plastics and specialty chemicals through Sadara's other manufacturing units.
The MFC is one of 26 manufacturing assets being built at the complex in Jubail Industrial City II.
Sadara remains on schedule for a sequenced start-up process, continuing with the polyethylene and polyolefins envelope to maximize timing in the ethylene cycle, followed by ethylene oxide/propylene oxide and their derivatives, said Dow.