KPIC taps Lummus Technology for AHU contract

HOUSTON—U.S. engineering consulting firm Lummus Technology L.L.C. has been awarded a contract to build a C4 acetylenes selective hydrogenation unit (AHU) plant for Korea Petrochemical Ind. Co. Ltd (KPIC).

The unit will be part of an ongoing expansion project at KPIC's Onsan Chemical Plant in Ulsan, Korea, said Lummus in a Nov. 18 statement.

The technology, according to Lummus, will prevent the burning of the by-product stream as fuel and upgrades a by-product waste stream by selectively hydrogenating C4 acetylenes to produce larger quantities of butadiene and raffinate products.

These products will be used to produce rubber and supply KPIC's olefins conversion unit.

Lummus' project scope for this award includes license and basic engineering for the Lummus/BASF SELOP C4 acetylene selective hydrogenation technology.

The investment, according to Leon de Bruyn, Lummus president and CEO, will make the site "more efficient and productive while reducing the waste streams."

Over the past three decades, KPIC has selected multiple Lummus technologies for its Onsan Chemical Plant, according to the news release. Previous licenses include a naphtha-cracking complex, an olefins conversion unit and a 146 kiloton-per annum (ktpa) butadiene extraction unit, which KPIC awarded to Lummus earlier this year in May.

"As the licensor of the existing technologies at KPIC's site, we can readily integrate this add-on technology to the existing facility and successfully execute this project," de Bruyn added.

Once complete, the plant will process 37 ktpa of feed to the AHU.