E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. has let a contract to CB&I, Houston, to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) for an ethane-cracking furnace expansion project at DuPont's 680,000-tonne/year Sabine River Works ethylene plant in Orange, Tex.
To be equipped with CB&I's proprietary Short Residence Time (SRT) pyrolysis heater technology, the new cracking furnace will have an ethylene capacity of 200 million lb/year, the service provider said on June 21.
CB&I valued the EPC contract at about $40 million.
While neither CB&I nor DuPont disclosed further details regarding the proposed expansion project, CB&I confirmed this latest contract follows DuPont’s previous award to the service provider to supply ethylene technology licensing, engineering, and supply of the new furnace, which was built at CB&I’s manufacturing plant in Thailand.
In a Sept. 16, 2014, release, DuPont said it would invest more than $100 million on a series of projects to be completed between 2014-18, all of which were aimed at increasing ethylene copolymers capacity at its Texas manufacturing sites.
The expansion works come as part of DuPont’s plan to help meet rising demand for packaging and industrial polymers, according to the producer.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].