Sasol Technology (Pty) Ltd (Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.com) today announced a series of engineering and technology provider appointments as it continues to advance front-end engineering and design (FEED) of its ethane cracker and derivatives project. Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) is the main FEED contractor for the ethane cracker and derivatives project. Individual engineering services agreements for the development of basic engineering packages have been concluded with Toyo Engineering Corporation for the linear-low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd for the low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, and Samsung Engineering America Inc. for the ethylene oxide (EO) and mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) units.
The technologies of Technip Stone & Webster Process Technology, Inc., ExxonMobil Chemical Technology Licensing, LLC, Univation Technologies, LLC and Scientific Design Company, Inc. have been selected for the ethane cracker, LDPE, LLDPE and EO/ MEG processes, respectively. In addition, Sasol will use its own proprietary technologies for the Tetramerization, Ziegler alcohol and Guerbet alcohol units. Emerson Process Management, a global business of Emerson, has been appointed as the main automation contractor for the project. Worley Parsons Limited has been contracted to support Sasol’s own project execution team as part of an Integrated Project Management Team. Worley Parson’s systems, tools and local expertise will be used to enhance the Sasol team that is overseeing the project. The current project costs for the ethane cracker, to be located near Westlake, La., are estimated at $5–7 billion. It is currently envisioned that the final investment decision for the ethane cracker will be taken in 2014 with beneficial operation to be achieved in 2017. The ethane cracker is designed to produce 1.5 million ton/yr of ethylene.