Sibur (Moscow, Russia; www.sibur.com) has started the preparatory stage of an investment project to ramp up the production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a high-octane petrol additive, at its production site in Togliatti. The project will see the construction of a new MTBE unit, with the site’s capacity expected to grow from 75,000 to 135,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr). At the current stage, Sibur is setting up the construction site and developing project documents and terms of reference for a tender to purchase long lead equipment. Methyl tertiary butyl ether is an effective component of motor fuel designed to raise the octane number of petrol and prevent engine knocking. To provide raw materials for the expanded MTBE production, the output of the isobutane–isobutylene fraction will be increased from 105,000 m.t./yr to 130,000 m.t./yr.
In 2011, Sibur completed a project to grow the MTBE output at its Tobolsk facility from 120,000 to 150,000 m.t./yr, followed by a capacity ramp-up at the Tchaikovsky site (Perm Territory) from 200,000 m.t./yr to 220,000 m.t./yr in 2012. Today, Sibur’s total MTBE capacity stands at 500,000 m.t./yr.