By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Nov. 29 -- Datang International Power Generation Co. Ltd. and Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group have awarded Lurgi AG two contracts for the first two commercial-scale propylene plants based on Lurgi technology for the production of plastics from coal. The plants, expected to be the largest in the world according to Lurgi, will be built in China.
Total capital investment for both projects amounts to more than €2 billion.
Lurgi's contracts, valued at more than €100 million, cover the technology license, engineering services, and supply of special equipment. Certain proprietary equipment and major machinery are to be supplied from Europe, but most materials will be purchased in China.
The plants, due on stream in late 2008 and early 2009, will produce about 500,000 tons/year of polypropylene from coal. They will incorporate Lurgi's technologies for raw gas conditioning, methanol synthesis (5,000 tons/day of methanol with the Lurgi MegaMethanol process), and Methanol-to-Propylene (MTP).
The Lurgi MegaMethanol technology will provide feedstock for the company's MTP process. MTP complexes constitute the first step to diversification into the field of coal-to-chemicals and fuels in China, Lurgi said.