EPP lets contract for another Gulf Coast PDH unit

March 18, 2014
Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP), Houston, has let a $100 million contract to CB&I, Houston, for pipe fabrication for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Mont Belvieu, Tex.

Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP), Houston, has let a $100 million contract to CB&I, Houston, for pipe fabrication for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Mont Belvieu, Tex.

Last year, EPP let an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the PDH unit to a subsidiary of Foster Wheeler AG’s Global Engineering & Construction Group. No contract value was disclosed (OGJ Online, Aug. 6, 2013).

In mid-2012, EPP reported it would build the 35,000-b/d PDH unit to take advantage of low-cost propane derived from increased NGL production out of nearby shale gas development.

The unit will be able to produce as much as 1.65 billion lb/year (about 750,000 tonnes/year) of polymer-grade propylene, a prime feedstock for plastics manufacturers (OGJ Online, June 21, 2012).

For feedstock supply, the PDH will be supported by EPP’s Gulf Coast NGL fractionation and storage. With previously announced expansions, the company by 2015 will have 708,000 b/d of NGL fractionation capacity, which would provide up to 177,000 b/d of propane (OGJ, May 7, 2012, p. 88).

In addition, the new PDH unit will be supported by EPP’s 100 million bbl of NGL and petrochemical storage along the Texas Gulf Coast.