Bahrain Inaugurates World's Largest Carbon Dioxide Recovery Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In December 2009, Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) (Sitra, Bahrain) inaugurated its CO2 recovery plant at the GPIC complex on the island of Sitra. The $55 million CO2 recovery plant is the largest in the world.

With the inauguration of the plant, GPIC has become the first Middle Eastern petrochemical company to make use of an advanced technology to recycle CO2 emitted as part of flue gases. The recovery system was designed and licensed by diversified manufacturing company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited (TYO:7011) (MHI) (Tokyo, Japan). MHI and GPIC signed the licensing agreement in December 2007. The recovery technology is known as the Kansai-Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery (KM CDR) process, and was developed jointly by MHI and electricity provider Kansai Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9503) (Tokyo).

The new recovery plant will enhance overall plant efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90%. The plant has been designed with the capacity to capture 450 tons per day of CO2. The recovered CO2 will be utilized as feedstock in the already existing methanol and ammonia production units of the facility. Production of the two will be increased by 200 tons per year with increased supply of CO2.

During the opening ceremony, Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, the chairman of GPIC and adviser to the prime minister for Oil and Industrial Affairs, said that with this project, GPIC has begun contributing towards the worldwide efforts to reduce global warming and prevent climate change.

Compared to other available technologies, the KM CDR process consumes less energy. The technology also can be used in the production of dimethyl ether, and in the food and beverages industries such as the manufacture of carbonated beverages and dry ice. Another important application of the technology is in the increased production of crude oil. Injecting CO2 into a reservoir with low productivity can lead to enhanced oil recovery.

The engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project was Technimont ICB (Mumbai), a wholly owned subsidiary of Technimont SpA Italy (Rome, Italy), which in turn is an integral part of international industrial group Maire Technimont SpA (BIT:MT) (Rome, Italy). Mechanical Contracting and Services Company WLL (Manama, Bahrain), Bahrain's leading construction and maintenance company, was the subcontractor for the project. The project was completed ahead of schedule, within 27 months.

GPIC is a three-way joint venture company established to develop the fertilizer and petrochemical sectors of the region. It is equally owned by the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Petrochemical Industries Company (Safat, Kuwait), and shareholding company Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SAU:2010) (SABIC) (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). The Sitra facility of GPIC produces 400,000 tons per year of ammonia, 400,000 tons per year of methanol, and 600,000 tons per year of urea. The abundantly available natural gas is used as feedstock for the facility.

The CO2 recovery project was developed as part of GPIC's policy to protect the environment and utilize raw materials available locally.

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