Until eight
years ago, everyone was worried about incomplete petrochemical projects. But
today, the same projects are offering a variety of petrochemicals, which
largely contribute to the Iranian economy. The accelerated development of
petrochemical projects under the 11th and the 12th administrations resulted in
the development of a large number of products. Iran raised its annual
petrochemical production capacity to 54 million tonnes last March, while the
number of petrochemicals manufactured in Iran has reached 123. More
importantly, over the past five years, a total of 15 petrochemical projects
came on-stream, which we briefly review here, Shana wrote.
**Ilam
Petrochemical Plant
Phase I of Ilam Petrochemical Plant was
inaugurated in 2014 during a provincial tour by President Hassan Rouhani. The
project came online with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes. The investment made in
the project stood at $442 million with its output valued at $388 million. The
Ilam plant remains a major industrial project in Iran, equipped with ethylene,
high-density polyethylene, feedstock desulfurization and all utilities units.
Creation of job in the province, optimal use of refined gas products and their
conversion to petrochemicals of high value-added have been among objectives of
implementation of this project.
**Lorestan
Petrochemical Plant
Lorestan
Petrochemical Plant was inaugurated by Iran's first vice-president in April
2016 with an annual production capacity of 330,000 tonnes of low-density linear
polyethylene (LDLP) and high-density linear polyethylene (HDLP).
Located on a
130-ha land, the Lorestan plant is fed by 234,000 tonnes a year of feedstock
supplied by the West Ethylene Pipeline. This project was inaugurated with an
initial capital of $300 million with the value of its products standing at $329
million.
**Urmia
Petrochemical Plant Sulfuric Acid Unit
The Urmia
petrochemical plant was inaugurated by President Rouhani in May 2016. The
sulfuric acid unit of this petrochemical plant has an annual production
capacity of 50,000 tonnes. The investment made in this project was $10 million
with its production valued at $4 million. Due to allotment of human resources
and utilities, it would be possible for the plant to boost production capacity.
**Mahabad
Petchem Plant
Mahabad
Petchem Plant was officially inaugurated by President Rouhani in May 2016. The
idea behind this project was to develop petrochemical products in Iran, create
jobs and develop petrochemical exports, make optimal use of gas resources in
Iran and generate value-added from national assets in partnership with Iran's
National Petrochemical Company and private investment. The Mahabad plant is
among the 12 petrochemical projects located along the West Ethylene Pipeline.
The investment made in this project stands at $388 million with the value of
its output estimated at $329 million.
**Marvdasht
Petchem Plant
Shohada-ye
Marvdasht Petrochemical Plant was inaugurated by Iran's first vice-president in
July 2016 with an initial investment of $627 million. It was designed by
Petrochemical Industries Design and Engineering Company (PIDEC) with
technologies provided by Switzerland's Casale SA and Japan's Toyo. Iranian
engineers handled detailed design, purchase engineering, implementation,
pre-commissioning and commissioning.
The project
created 500 direct jobs and 4,000 to 5,000 indirect jobs. The value of its
product is estimated at $264 million.
**Takht
Jamshid SBR/PBR Unit
The Takht
Jamshid SBR/PBR Unit was inaugurated by Iran's first vice-president in February
2017. Takht Jamshid Petrochemical Company is located in Site 2 of the Special
Economic Petrochemical Zone. In Phase 1, the project will be supplying 45,000
tonnes of SBR and PBR. The PBR unit, with a capacity of 35,000 tonnes a year,
created 700 jobs throughout construction and 200 jobs during operation. The
products of this unit are used as raw material for rubber industry. The
Petrochemical Commercial Company has indigenized PBR production technology.
TJPC incorporates an SBR production unit with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes a
year and a PBR production unit with an annual capacity of 18,000 tonnes. The
technologies used in this facility are Goodyear for SBR and Goodrich for PBR.
**Karoun
Petchem Plant
Phase 2 of
Karoun Petchem Plant was inaugurated with the commissioning of the methylene
diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) unit with an annual capacity of 40,000 tonnes by
Iran's first vice president in February 2017. Phase 2 of Karoun Petchem Plant
has five units. It has cost $407 million with its products valued at $116
million.
**Kurdistan
Petchem Plant
Kurdistan
Petchem Plant is one of 12 petrochemical projects lying in the category of
resilient economy. It has had a big share in industrial development, creation
of value-added and job creation in western and northwestern Iran. It was
inaugurated in April 2017 by President Rouhani. A total of $378 million was
invested in this project. Construction of the petrochemical plant started in
2005, but it faced a six-year halt before being resumed in 2011. The products
of the Kurdistan plant are used as feedstock for downstream units, and in the
production of polyethylene films, polyethylene foams, wire and cable coating
and plastic materials.
**Morvarid
Petchem Plant's MEG Unit
The MEG unit
of Morvarid Petchem Plant was inaugurated by President Rouhani in April 2017
with a view to producing ethylene glycol in different grades. This unit was
designed and built to produce 554,000 tonnes a year of products. The main
feedstock for this unit are 340,000 tonnes a year of ethylene supplied by the
olefin unit of Morvarid Petrochemical Plant, and 368,000 tonnes a year of
oxygen to produce 554,000 tonnes of ethylene glycol a year. The initial
investment made in this project stood at $300 million, while 90% of equipment
used in the MEG unit is domestically manufactured. The MEG unit's products are
monoethylene glycol (MEG), diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethylene glycol
(TEG).
**Phase 2 of
Kavian Petchem Plant
Phase 2 of
Kavian Petchem Plant, known as the largest producer of ethylene in the Middle
East, has an annual production capacity of over one million tonnes of ethylene.
It was inaugurated in April 2017 with an initial investment of $313 million.
Construction of the project started in 2006. Phase 1 became operational in
2012. The products of this plant are valued at $929 million.
**Entekhab
Industrial Group's Polystyrene Unit
The
polystyrene unit of the Entekhab Industrial Group which has production capacity
of 250,000 tonnes a year of polystyrene was inaugurated in April 2017 by
President Rouhani. A total of $200 million was invested in this project.
Technical knowhow provided by Norway and Germany has been used in this project
whose output is estimated to be valued at $326 million.
**Takht
Jamshid Pars Petchem Plant's Polystyrene Unit
The
Polystyrene Unit of Takht Jamshid Pars Petchem Plant was inaugurated by
President Rouhani in April 2017. The construction of Takht Jamshid Pars Petchem
Plant began in early 2015 with the objective of producing 65,000 tonnes a year
of polystyrene products. The investment made in this project stands at $70
million with the products valued at $69 million.
Polystyrene
is a synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer made from the monomer styrene.
Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear,
rigid, and rather brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a
rather poor barrier to oxygen and water vapor and has a relatively low melting
point. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, the scale of its
production being several million tonnes per year. Polystyrene can be naturally
transparent, but can be colored with colorants. Usages include protective
packaging (such as packing peanuts and CD and DVD cases), containers (such as
"clamshells"), lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, disposable cutlery and
in the making of models.
**Phase 3 of
Pardis Petchem Plant
Phase 3 of
Pardis Petrochemical Plant was inaugurated by President Rouhani in September
with an annual production capacity of 1.75 million tonnes of urea and ammonia.
The project, which was started in 2011, has cost $582 million. Phase 3 is
estimated to bring its urea production to 522,000 tonnes, which would account
for 70% of the target for this project.
**Marjan
Petchem Plant's Methanol Unit
The methanol
unit of Marjan Petrochemical Plant has a production capacity of 1.65 million
tonnes a year. The project was inaugurated by President Rouhani. During
operation, it will create 250 job opportunities. The investment made in this
project stands at $914 million with the products valued at $577 million a year.
**Damavand
Power Plant
The Damavand
Power Plant was built to supply electricity to 24 petrochemical plants located
in Phase 2 of the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ). The initial
investment made in this project stood at $366 million. This unit is currently
supplying electricity to the Mehr, Morvarid, Kavian, Entekhab, Takht Jamshid,
Marjan and Bushehr plants as well as compressed air separation unit among
others. Equipped with two main boilers and an auxiliary boiler, the Damavand
Power Plant is currently producing 780 tonnes an hour of vapor which is fed
into the Mehr, Morvarid, Kavian and Marjan petrochemical plants. In the future,
plants under construction in Phase 2 will be supplied with vapor from this
power plant.
The Damavand
project was inaugurated by President Rouhani.
Courtesy of Iran
Petroleum
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