BASF Sonatrach PropanChem Spain PDH unit back online

09 December 2011 17:07  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--BASF Sonatrach PropanChem’s propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit at Tarragona, Spain is fully back on line, a company spokesperson said on Friday.

It is running at low rates, but with an imminent ramp-up phase.

The existing force majeure on propylene supplies from the site is expected to be lifted next week, added the spokesperson.

Last week the company said the unit was due to restart between 5-7 December and the FM would be removed shortly afterwards. 

At the end of September, the unit unexpectedly shut down for technical reasons and the force majeure on propylene came into effect.

The unit was running again in October, albeit at reduced rates because of ongoing technical limitations and as a result was taken down in early November for additional repair and maintenance work.

Previous reports suggested that the outage was due to last until early December and the force majeure was also extended till then.

The nameplate capacity of the PDH unit in Tarragona is 350,000 tonnes/year, according to the company.

BASF Sonatrach PropanChem is a 50:50 joint venture between Germany’s BASF and Algerian oil and gas producer Sonatrach.

For more on propylene visit ICIS chemical intelligence 

 

By: Heidi Finch
+44 20 8652 3214

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