Engineering Underway for HCN Expansion at DuPont Site in Texas

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). E I Du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD)(DuPont) (Wilmington, Delaware) and Lucite International, Incorporated (Southampton, England) recently completed an agreement for Lucite to operate DuPont’s acrylonitrile unit located in Beaumont, Texas, with the ability to expand the unit’s hydrogen cyanide (HCN) output. Initial plans include installing a new reactor vessel and related equipment to increase the utilization of DuPont’s technology and increase HCN production to support Lucite’s demand for the feedstock in the production of methylmethacrylate (MMA).

Aker Kvaerner (Houston, Texas) has been hired as part of an existing HCN development alliance with DuPont offering Andrussow technology for increasing HCN yields in existing acrylonitrile plants. Aker Kvaerner is well underway with detailed engineering and expects to receive final approvals plus complete construction scheduling by the end of this year. Construction is planned to begin early next year and a completion date scheduled for late summer of 2006. Ultimately, a portion of the existing 200,000 metric tons per year acrylonitrile capacity will be sacrificed or reduced to an estimated 140,000 metric tons per year to allow for the additional unspecified amount of new HCN production.

This additional HCN production will be delivered to Lucite’s nearby 300 million pounds per year MMA plant located in neighboring Nederland, Texas where it will be used in the production of MMA. Lucite has long-term goals of substantially increasing its domestic production of MMA through a series of debottlenecks and joint ventures. Included in the plans is the potential that Lucite would eventually acquire all, or at least portions, of DuPont’s acrylonitrile operations located at the Beaumont plant site to support its long-term demand of HCN. Recent news topics covering Lucite’s plan for new capacity include: Plans for a Grassroot MMA Plant in Texas Continue to Make Progress and Lucite International Selects Singapore for New Methyl Methacrylate Plant.

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