Total starts up ethane-based ethylene production at upgraded Antwerp platform

French multinational oil and gas company, Total invested nearly US$60 million to revamp one of the platform’s two steam cracker and to adapt the site’s terminal to enable the import of 200,000 tonnes of ethane/ year by ship from Norway. At its Antwerp refining and chemicals platform, it has started up production of ethylene using ethane feedstock, which is extracted from natural gas and is significantly cheaper than oil-derived feedstock, Total says.

The project optimises supply by providing flexibility to use ethane, butane or naphtha as feedstock; advantaged feedstock could therefore account for more than 50% of supply.

Furthermore, the project is part of a wider upgrade of the Antwerp facility that also includes the construction of a new refining complex – to convert larger volumes of heavy fuel oil into light products for which there is growing demand – as well as a unit to process refinery off-gas for use as petrochemical feedstock. The platform upgrades are expected to be completed in the second half of 2017.

Commenting on the upgrade, Bernard Pinatel, President, Total Refining & Chemicals says, “The Antwerp investment makes the site more flexible and opens access to the most competitive feedstock.”

Located in the city’s port area, the Antwerp refining and chemicals facility has three production sites, forming an integrated platform for both refining (338,000 barrels/day) and petrochemicals (1.1 million tonnes/year of ethylene). The platform produces various petroleum products, such as heavy fuel oil, gasoline, LPG, diesel and jet fuel. It also manufactures base chemicals — olefins, C4 fractions and aromatic hydrocarbons — some of which are used to make polymers (high-density polyethylene). The Antwerp platform employs around 1,700 people. Its products are used in a number of consumer and industrial applications, such as packaging and automotive components.