Sasol Ltd. has commissioned a 47,000-tonne/year ethylene purification unit at its polymers plant in Sasolburg, South Africa.
Already in its operation phase, the 1.9 billion rand ($175 million) Ethylene Purification Unit 5 (EPU5) is designed to address growing local demand for polyethylene material as well as to boost utilization of Sasol’s existing downstream polyethylene operations, according to Sasol.
The company expects EPU5 to reach half of its 47,000-tpy capacity within the next 6 months, with the plant slated to reach full capacity by 2017.
The expansion at Sasolburg also was designed to reduce hydrocarbon flaring, which will reduce the carbon footprint of the company’s total ethylene production operations in South Africa, Sasol said.
