Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cpchem.com) announced that it has successfully completed a low-viscosity polyalphaolefins (PAO) capacity expansion at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas.
The 20% capacity expansion enables the company to meet the increasing demand for high-performance lubricants in automotive and industrial applications. Chevron Phillips Chemical is a leader in the development and production of PAOs, marketed under the brand name Synfluid PAO, which are used for a variety of applications including engine oils, gear oils and greases.
The project improves process safety and overall unit efficiencies while reducing waste generation for Cedar Bayou’s PAO unit. The feedstock for the new unit will be provided from Cedar Bayou’s recent 100,000-metric-tons-per-year expansion of its normal alpha olefins capacity.
Construction began in April 2016 and supported up to 135 construction and engineering jobs.