Saudi Kayan Moves Forward with Construction of Ethylene Glycol Plant at Jubail Industrial City

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Saudi Arabia-based petrochemicals company Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company (Jubail) is advancing with its plans to construct an ethylene glycol plant at Jubail Industrial City, with a total investment of around $500 million.

The new facility is designed to produce up to 550,000 tons per year of ethylene oxide that will be subsequently processed to produce 700,000 tons per year of monoethylene glycol (MEG), 58,000 tons per year of diethylene glycol (DEG), and 3,000 tons per year of triethylene glycol (TEG). The process licensor is Scientific Design Company Incorporated (Little Ferry, New Jersey), a subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) (Riyadh) and Sud-Chemie (Munich, Germany).

During base-load mode of operation, 163,000 tons per year of ethylene oxide will be extracted, purified, and used as a feedstock in the production of choline chloride, ethanolamines, ethoxylates and ethyl carbonate. The remaining ethylene oxide will be converted to 493,000 tons per year of MEG, 40,000 tons per year of DEG, and 2,000 tons per year of TEG.

The plant configuration includes an ethylene-oxide reaction section, a carbon-dioxide removal section, an ethylene-oxide stripping and re-absorption section, a glycol-reaction section, a water removal and recovery section, and a glycol-purification section.

Currently, construction work is being carried out by the selected engineering, procurement and construction firm CTCI Corporation (TPE:9933) (Taipei, Taiwan). Construction of the plant began in June 2007 and is due to be completed by July of 2009.

This project is part of Saudi Kayan's larger investment plan of $10 billion aimed to construct a grassroot petrochemical complex with an annual production capacity exceeding 4 million metric tons of petrochemical and chemical products. These products include ethylene, propylene, polypropylene, benzene, ethylene glycol, polyethylene, butene-1, aminoethanols, aminomethyls, dimethylformamide, choline chloride, dimethylethanol, dimethylethanolamine, ethoxylates, phenol, cumene and polycarbonate.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company was the result of a partnership agreement between SABIC and AlKayan Petrochemical Company (Kayan). SABIC holds a 35% stake in the company, and Saudi Kayan holds 20%, with the remaining 45% raised through an initial public offering during the second quarter of 2007 in Saudi Arabia.

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