Bandar Imam Chemical Complex (113898 bytes)
Bandar Imam Petrochemical Co. Ltd. has commissioned a 290,000 metric ton/year ethylene dichloride (EDC) plant and associated vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plants.
The units are part of the companys chemical complex at Bandar Imam Khomeni, Iran, at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf.
In 1989, following extensive damage as a result of the war between Iran and Iraq, Bandar Imam Petrochemical Co. began a major reconstruction program. In 1991, Krupp Koppers, Germany, and ABB Lummus Crest B.V., The Netherlands, completed the plants olefin/aromatic complex and NGL fractionating plant (see flow diagram).
Start-up of the EDC, VCM, and PVC plants marked the completion of Phase 3 of the reconstruction program.
EDC plant
The new plant is described in a Krupp Koppers technical bulletin titled VCM and PVC Plants Commissioned in Iran (Information No. 404, August 1995).
The EDC plant converts ethylene and chlorine to EDC. Of the 290,000 metric tons/year (mty) EDC produced, about 150,000 mty are slated for export. The remaining 140,000 mty are cracked and purified to produce VCM. The high-purity VCM is used as feedstock for the PVC plant.
In the 180,000 mty VCM plant, a fixed-bed oxychlorination unit reacts the hydrogen produced by EDC cracking with air and ethylene. This reaction produces additional EDC, which is recycled to the cracking process.
The oxychlorination stage of the VCM plant uses the latest BASF catalyst for fixed-bed oxychlorination, according to Krupp Koppers. The plant also includes a new state-of-the-art incineration unit to destroy residues containing chlorinated hydrocarbons.
PVC plant
The PVC plant was constructed by a consortium comprising Krupp Koppers and Klckner Industrie-Anlagen GmbH. The 180,000 mty plant uses Hls AG technology.
The Hls process comprises four reactors, each with a volume of 200 cu m. These are the worlds largest commercially proven polymerization reactors, according to Hls.
The process also employs:
- Automated reactor cleaning
- Cooling water and reflux condensers, rather than chilled water
- An emergency condensation system for emission prevention.
The plant converts VCM to six grades of suspension PVC. The products are intended mostly for Irans rapidly growing domestic market.
Products from the EDC/VCM complex are valued at DM 300 million, according to Krupp Koppers. n
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