Unipetrol commissions main line of new Litvinov polyethylene unit

Unipetrol AS has completed construction of and officially commissioned the main line of its previously announced two-line grassroots polyethylene (PE) production unit at the operator’s Chempark Zaluzi petrochemical complex in Litvinov, Czech Republic (OGJ Online, Sept. 10, 2015).

The 270,000-tonnes/year main—or “natural”—production line of the new PE3 unit is now fully operational, enabling the plant to use its entire production capacity to manufacture advanced types of natural PE, Unipetrol said on Apr. 2.

Operational testing and delivery of the unit’s 100,000-tpy second—or “black”—line will occur once coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted, according to the operator.

Designed to replace the complex’s existing 120,000-tpy PE1 unit, the two-line PE3 unit will join the remaining 200,000-tpy PE2 unit to boost Unipetrol’s overall high-density PE (HDPE) production at the site to 470,000 tpy from its current 320,000 tpy.

Part of Unipetrol’s strategy to further integrate its own and parent company Polski Koncern Naftowy SA’s  (PKN Orlen) refining and petrochemical businesses, the 9.6 billion- koruna PE3 unit stands as the biggest investment to date in the history of the Czech petrochemical industry, said Tomasz Wiatrak, Unipetrol’s chairman of the board of directors.

Technip Italy SPA—now a part of TechnipFMC PLC—delivered engineering, procurement, and construction services for the PE3 unit, which is equipped with Ineos Technologies Ltd.’s proprietary Innovene S slurry technology for production of mono and bimodal HDPE (OGJ Online, June 7, 2016).