Huntsman (chemical plant)
Encyclopedia
Huntsman Chemical Company of Australia Pty Ltd (HCCA) operates a complex chemical manufacturing plant in Somerville Rd Brooklyn
in Melbourne. The site is approximately 40 hectares in size and is located in the City of Brimbank. HCCA is partially owned by the Huntsman Corporation.
to manufacture aspirin
and sulfa drugs. For most of its life the site has been owned and operated by the Monsanto Company Corporation. In 1988 Monsanto sold all of its Australian non-agricultural operations to Consolidated Press Holdings and Chemplex Australia Ltd was created.
In 1993 Consolidated Press Holdings and Huntsman Chemical Corporation established the present joint venture partnership i.e. Huntsman Chemical Company of Australia Pty Ltd.
, Toluene
, and Xylene
. BTX is a mixture of these chemical species plus many other species. Both liquids are stored in large steel tanks surrounded by concrete bunds. The tanks vent to a pair of carbon beds that collect most of the gaseous discharge from the tanks. When road tankers unload liquid benzene or BTX into the respective tanks, vapour rich in these materials is discharged from the tank vent and is trapped in activated carbon
beds. Benzene and BTX are purchased overseas and is transported to nearby Coode Island
where it is unloaded from ships and stored in a similar tank farm before being transported by road to the West Footscray site. The tank farm also contains similar tanks that contain the finished product styrene monomer and various intermediate liquids. See descriptions of these materials in the other sections below.
(also known as ethene) from ethane
. Ethylene and ethane are both gases. The ethane flows to the plant via a pipeline ultimately from Bass Strait oil and gas wells. The ethylene is produced by steam cracking. In this process, gaseous ethane briefly heated to 750–950 °C in a thermal cracker. The cracker is a large box with many gas burners and long sections of pipe inside. The ethane flows inside the pipe and is partially converted to ethylene and hydrogen. The reaction is moderated or improved by the addition of hydrogen sulfide
. This material is usually supplied from the Litol plant or if this plant is not running dimethyl disulfide
(DMDS) is used.
The rest of the plant is principally involved with purifying and compressing this gas stream to a concentration suitable for the Alkylation plant. A four stage compression plant is used to purify the ethylene. The gas mixture is washed with water and caustic to remove acid gas and sulfides. Ethylene is produced by cryogenic separation. The ethylene product of this plant is not stored but piped directly to the Alkylation plant where it is consumed. If the Alkylation plant cannot accept the ethylene, the gas is sent to the flare.
One product of this cryogenic separation is a hydrogen rich stream that is used in the Litol plant. Propylene is used as the refrigerant in the cryogenic distillation section of the plant.
( a group of three dimethyl benzenes) in the BTX are similarly converted to benzene and methane. This requires hydrogen which is supplied in a gaseous stream from the Ethylene plant (see above). The reaction is completed in a pair of reactors in series at high temperature and high pressure. The methane and other gaseous products are separated from the benzene and the other liquids. The mixture of benzene, xylenes etc. is then purified in two distillation
columns. The benzene is then stored in the tank farm before use a raw material in the Alkylation Plant.
. Alkylation
is a basic chemical process where an alkyl group is added to another molecule. This plant uses a variation on the Friedel-Crafts reaction
. Aluminium chloride
is used to make a complex with polyethylbenzene. This complex is then circulated as the catalyst for the reaction. The reaction takes place in a chemical reactor
. The products of this plant contains a mixture of benzene, ethylbenzene, and smaller quantities of a few polyethylbenzes. This mixture is sent to the Alkylation Distillation plant via storage in the tank farm.
In January 2007, Huntsman announced the completion of the sale of this business including its gelcoat and vinylesters business to Nuplex Industries Ltd (Nuplex) for $US7.5 million plus the value of stock on hand.
To support the operating units the site has a boiler house, laboratories, maintenance workshops, warehouses an effluent treatment plant and offices.
Cumene-Phenol Plant=
This continuous plant was started up in 1968 when it was the Royal Australian Chemical Institute
"Plant of the Year". It shut down and dismantled in 2005. The Cumene-Phenol plant was the third plant to produce phenol
on the West Footscray site. The site has been completely dismantled except for the old control room.
It is called the Cumene-Phenol plant because of the intermedite materials is cumene
or isopropylbenzene in the cumene process
. It produces equimolar amounts of phenol and acetone
. It was the only Cumene-Phenol plant built in Australia. Some cumene-hydroperoxide an organic peroxide
was also sold.
There are 7 units in this plant
and propylene
. Benzene is a liquid that was purchased overseas and stored on the site in one tank. In 1996 this plant was decommissioned when all benzene on site was stored in the Styrene Plant tank farm. Propylene is a gas and was supplied to the site from Mobil Refinery Altona which is about 7 km away by truck. Propylene was stored in one high pressure tank.
These two material were reacted in an alkylation reaction. The reaction took place in fixed bed catalytic reactor. The catalyst was a mixture of phosphoric acid on a clay base. The reactor produced a mixture of cumene, propylene and benzene. These materials were separated in two distillation columns; the depropaniser and the benzene column. There were two tanks that could be used to store cumene before it was sent to Oxidation.
and heavy ends tar. The phenol tanks had steam coils to keep the phenol liquid. Phenol melts at 45 degrees.
to burn the by product propane
. This material was an imputirtiy in the propylene. Normally it was condensed, stored in high pressure tanks and sold. Waste water was collected and treated at the site effluent treatment plant before being discharged into sewer.
Brooklyn, Victoria
Brooklyn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Hobsons Bay and Brimbank. At the 2006 Census, Brooklyn had a population of 1583.-Industry:...
in Melbourne. The site is approximately 40 hectares in size and is located in the City of Brimbank. HCCA is partially owned by the Huntsman Corporation.
History
The site was established in 1941 during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to manufacture aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
and sulfa drugs. For most of its life the site has been owned and operated by the Monsanto Company Corporation. In 1988 Monsanto sold all of its Australian non-agricultural operations to Consolidated Press Holdings and Chemplex Australia Ltd was created.
In 1993 Consolidated Press Holdings and Huntsman Chemical Corporation established the present joint venture partnership i.e. Huntsman Chemical Company of Australia Pty Ltd.
Styrene Monomer
Styrene is produced in a continuous plant that was commissioned in 1977. The Styrene Plant consists of 7 unitsTank Farm
This is located at the west end of the site near Market Rd. These tanks are used to store for raw materials for the other units of the Styrene Plant. The company purchases amination grade benzene and also a material called BTX. Both are liquids. BTX stands for BenzeneBenzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
, Toluene
Toluene
Toluene, formerly known as toluol, is a clear, water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners. It is a mono-substituted benzene derivative, i.e., one in which a single hydrogen atom from the benzene molecule has been replaced by a univalent group, in this case CH3.It is an aromatic...
, and Xylene
Xylene
Xylene encompasses three isomers of dimethylbenzene. The isomers are distinguished by the designations ortho- , meta- , and para- , which specify to which carbon atoms the two methyl groups are attached...
. BTX is a mixture of these chemical species plus many other species. Both liquids are stored in large steel tanks surrounded by concrete bunds. The tanks vent to a pair of carbon beds that collect most of the gaseous discharge from the tanks. When road tankers unload liquid benzene or BTX into the respective tanks, vapour rich in these materials is discharged from the tank vent and is trapped in activated carbon
Activated carbon
Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, activated coal or carbo activatus, is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.The word activated in the name is sometimes replaced...
beds. Benzene and BTX are purchased overseas and is transported to nearby Coode Island
Coode Island
Coode Island, was an island at the convergence of the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers, 4km west of central Melbourne, Australia. Today the low-lying land is part of the Port of Melbourne, site of Swanson and Appleton Docks and their associated container storage and rail yards, as well as a number of...
where it is unloaded from ships and stored in a similar tank farm before being transported by road to the West Footscray site. The tank farm also contains similar tanks that contain the finished product styrene monomer and various intermediate liquids. See descriptions of these materials in the other sections below.
Ethylene
The ethylene plant produces ethyleneEthylene
Ethylene is a gaseous organic compound with the formula . It is the simplest alkene . Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is classified as an unsaturated hydrocarbon. Ethylene is widely used in industry and is also a plant hormone...
(also known as ethene) from ethane
Ethane
Ethane is a chemical compound with chemical formula C2H6. It is the only two-carbon alkane that is an aliphatic hydrocarbon. At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas....
. Ethylene and ethane are both gases. The ethane flows to the plant via a pipeline ultimately from Bass Strait oil and gas wells. The ethylene is produced by steam cracking. In this process, gaseous ethane briefly heated to 750–950 °C in a thermal cracker. The cracker is a large box with many gas burners and long sections of pipe inside. The ethane flows inside the pipe and is partially converted to ethylene and hydrogen. The reaction is moderated or improved by the addition of hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
. This material is usually supplied from the Litol plant or if this plant is not running dimethyl disulfide
Dimethyl disulfide
Dimethyl disulfide is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula CH3SSCH3 which is the simplest disulfide. It is a flammable liquid with an unpleasant odor.DMDS can be produced by the reaction of methanethiol with sulfur:-Uses:...
(DMDS) is used.
The rest of the plant is principally involved with purifying and compressing this gas stream to a concentration suitable for the Alkylation plant. A four stage compression plant is used to purify the ethylene. The gas mixture is washed with water and caustic to remove acid gas and sulfides. Ethylene is produced by cryogenic separation. The ethylene product of this plant is not stored but piped directly to the Alkylation plant where it is consumed. If the Alkylation plant cannot accept the ethylene, the gas is sent to the flare.
One product of this cryogenic separation is a hydrogen rich stream that is used in the Litol plant. Propylene is used as the refrigerant in the cryogenic distillation section of the plant.
Litol
BTX is purified in this plant into amination grade benzene. The major chemical process in this plant is dealkylation which is really the opposite of that occurring in the Aklylation plant (see section below). Toluene is also called methyl benzene. In this plant toluene is converted into benzene and methane. The xyleneXylene
Xylene encompasses three isomers of dimethylbenzene. The isomers are distinguished by the designations ortho- , meta- , and para- , which specify to which carbon atoms the two methyl groups are attached...
( a group of three dimethyl benzenes) in the BTX are similarly converted to benzene and methane. This requires hydrogen which is supplied in a gaseous stream from the Ethylene plant (see above). The reaction is completed in a pair of reactors in series at high temperature and high pressure. The methane and other gaseous products are separated from the benzene and the other liquids. The mixture of benzene, xylenes etc. is then purified in two distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
columns. The benzene is then stored in the tank farm before use a raw material in the Alkylation Plant.
Alkylation
In this plant the gaseous ethylene and the liquid benzene are combined with the aim of making ethylbenzeneEthylbenzene
Ethylbenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H5CH2CH3. This aromatic hydrocarbon is important in the petrochemical industry as an intermediate in the production of styrene, which in turn is used for making polystyrene, a common plastic material....
. Alkylation
Alkylation
Alkylation is the transfer of an alkyl group from one molecule to another. The alkyl group may be transferred as an alkyl carbocation, a free radical, a carbanion or a carbene . Alkylating agents are widely used in chemistry because the alkyl group is probably the most common group encountered in...
is a basic chemical process where an alkyl group is added to another molecule. This plant uses a variation on the Friedel-Crafts reaction
Friedel-Crafts reaction
The Friedel–Crafts reactions are a set of reactions developed by Charles Friedel and James Crafts in 1877. There are two main types of Friedel–Crafts reactions: alkylation reactions and acylation reactions. This reaction type is a form of electrophilic aromatic substitution...
. Aluminium chloride
Aluminium chloride
Aluminium chloride is the main compound of aluminium and chlorine. It is white, but samples are often contaminated with iron trichloride, giving it a yellow colour. The solid has a low melting and boiling point. It is mainly produced and consumed in the production of aluminium metal, but large...
is used to make a complex with polyethylbenzene. This complex is then circulated as the catalyst for the reaction. The reaction takes place in a chemical reactor
Chemical reactor
In chemical engineering, chemical reactors are vessels designed to contain chemical reactions. The design of a chemical reactor deals with multiple aspects of chemical engineering. Chemical engineers design reactors to maximize net present value for the given reaction...
. The products of this plant contains a mixture of benzene, ethylbenzene, and smaller quantities of a few polyethylbenzes. This mixture is sent to the Alkylation Distillation plant via storage in the tank farm.
Alkylation Distillation
This plant consists of four distillation columns. Three of the columns in this section have their own direct fired reboilers. The benzene drying column has a conventional steam heated reboiler. This plant produces a pure stream of ethylbenzene that is used in the dehydrogenation plant.Dehydrogenation
The main reaction in this plant is the conversion of ethylbenzene to styrene. It is a dehydrogenation reaction because two hydrogen atoms are removed from ethylbenzene to give styrene. The reaction is endothermic. The heat to drive this reaction is provided by steam. The reaction takes place in a large single fixed bed catalytic reactor.Dehydrogenation Distillation
Styrene is separated from ethyl benzene in a very tall continuously packed distillation tower. This separation is difficult because of the close boiling points of ethylbenzene and styrene; 136 degrees C and 145 degrees C respectively. This column is the tallest distillation column in Australia. The ethylbenzene coming out of the column is recycled to the Alkylation plant. To prevent the self polymerization of the styrene at the temperatures in the column an inhibitor is added to the mixture of ethylbenzene and styrene before it enters the column. There are two other distillation columns in this plant. All three operate under vacuum. Pure styrene is transferred to the tank farm. Styrene is a clear colourless liquid with a sickly sweet odour.Styrene Plant Utilities
The plant has the following utilities:- Cooling towerCooling towerCooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
. Cooling water is circulated throughout the plant. It is mainly used in the overhead condenser of the distillation columns and vent scrubbers. The water is cooled in a large conventional air cooling tower. The water is treated to prevent the build up of algae etc. in the water. - Fire Water tanks, pumps and sprinkler system. There are several high capacity pumps connected to a dedicated pair of fire water tanks. Some of the pumps have diesel powered motors since electrical power ( as used in conventional pumps) may be lost in a fire.
- Flare-The gas flareGas flareA gas flare, alternatively known as a flare stack, is an elevated vertical conveyance found accompanying the presence of oil wells, gas wells, rigs, refineries, chemical plants, natural gas plants, and landfills....
has continuous flame generation and steam injection to improve combustion. - Control Room. This is a centrally located room where the plant operators monitor the state of the plant.
- H2S incinerator where the process of incinerationIncinerationIncineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...
is used to convert waste hydrogen sulfide gas into sulfur dioxide. - The styrene plant consumes steamSteamSteam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
supplied by the nearby boiler house. The boiler house provides 4 different grades of steam i.e. different pressures and different amounts of superheat. Most of the steam is used to heat the reboilers in the distillation columns. - There is also a condensate header to collect the condensed steam and return it to the boiler house.
Other Plants
- Continuous Polystyrene
- Expandable Polystyrene
- Fibreglass Resins
In January 2007, Huntsman announced the completion of the sale of this business including its gelcoat and vinylesters business to Nuplex Industries Ltd (Nuplex) for $US7.5 million plus the value of stock on hand.
- Utilities
To support the operating units the site has a boiler house, laboratories, maintenance workshops, warehouses an effluent treatment plant and offices.
Shutdown Units
Since the early 1980s several of the operating units have been shut down for various reasons. Shut down units are listed below.- Cumene-Phenol Plant
- Salicylic Acid
- Aspirin
- Styrene Butadiene Latices
- Polystyrene Extrusion
- Santoflex
- Flopak
Cumene-Phenol Plant=
This continuous plant was started up in 1968 when it was the Royal Australian Chemical Institute
Royal Australian Chemical Institute
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Inc. is both the qualifying body in Australia for professional chemists and a learned society promoting the science and practice of chemistry in all its branches. The RACI hosts conferences, seminars and workshops...
"Plant of the Year". It shut down and dismantled in 2005. The Cumene-Phenol plant was the third plant to produce phenol
Phenol
Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, phenic acid, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid. The molecule consists of a phenyl , bonded to a hydroxyl group. It is produced on a large scale as a precursor to many materials and useful compounds...
on the West Footscray site. The site has been completely dismantled except for the old control room.
It is called the Cumene-Phenol plant because of the intermedite materials is cumene
Cumene
Cumene is the common name for isopropylbenzene, an organic compound that is an aromatic hydrocarbon. It is a constituent of crude oil and refined fuels. It is a flammable colorless liquid that has a boiling point of 152 °C...
or isopropylbenzene in the cumene process
Cumene process
The Cumene process is an industrial process for developing phenol and acetone from benzene and propylene. The term stems from cumene , the intermediate material during the process. It was invented by Heinrich Hock in 1944 and independently by R. Ūdris and P...
. It produces equimolar amounts of phenol and acetone
Acetone
Acetone is the organic compound with the formula 2CO, a colorless, mobile, flammable liquid, the simplest example of the ketones.Acetone is miscible with water and serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for cleaning purposes in the laboratory...
. It was the only Cumene-Phenol plant built in Australia. Some cumene-hydroperoxide an organic peroxide
Organic peroxide
Organic peroxides are organic compounds containing the peroxide functional group . If the R' is hydrogen, the compound is called an organic hydroperoxide. Peresters have general structure RCOOR. The O-O bond easily breaks and forms free radicals of the form RO·...
was also sold.
There are 7 units in this plant
Cumene
The two main raw materials in this process are benzeneBenzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
and propylene
Propylene
Propene, also known as propylene or methylethylene, is an unsaturated organic compound having the chemical formula C3H6. It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons, and it is also second in natural abundance.-Properties:At room temperature and...
. Benzene is a liquid that was purchased overseas and stored on the site in one tank. In 1996 this plant was decommissioned when all benzene on site was stored in the Styrene Plant tank farm. Propylene is a gas and was supplied to the site from Mobil Refinery Altona which is about 7 km away by truck. Propylene was stored in one high pressure tank.
These two material were reacted in an alkylation reaction. The reaction took place in fixed bed catalytic reactor. The catalyst was a mixture of phosphoric acid on a clay base. The reactor produced a mixture of cumene, propylene and benzene. These materials were separated in two distillation columns; the depropaniser and the benzene column. There were two tanks that could be used to store cumene before it was sent to Oxidation.
Oxidation
This section of the plant converts cumene into a mixture of cumene hydroperoxide and cumene. The reaction took place in four reactors. Each reactor was supplied with air from one large positive displacement compressor. The four reactors operated in series. The fourth oxidizer was a later addition to the plant in approximately 1981. Each oxider was run at a carefully controlled temperature, pressure and level of residual oxygen to optimize the production of the hydroperoxide. This section of the plant produced a large volume of residual air that contained small amounts of cumene; a highly odorous material. Carbon beds were installed to removed the cumene from this stream in the 1980s.Stripping
The cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) is concentrated in this section. The rich stream of CHP is not stored due to its high instability at this concentration, but sent straight to the cleavage section.Cleavage
A small steady stream of sulfuric acid is added to catalyse the cleavage reaction. In this reaction the CHP splits open and rearranges itself into two molecules; one each of phenol and acetone. Since the reaction is very unstable the Cleavage Reactor operated under strict temperature and acidity control with a high level of acetone reflux. The reactor was also equipped with emergency firewater injection.Distillation
The mixture from the cleavage reactor was flash distilled in the Evaporator. This removed most of the acetone and phenol from a heavy tar material. The rest of the plant consists of several conventional distillation columns that produced a pure stream of phenol, one of acetone, a heavy oil stream and crude alpha methtyl styrene (a byproduct). The crude alpha methyl styrene was purified by a batch distillation process. This used a conventional steam fired reboiler distillation column in the previous or Scientific Design (SD) Phenol Plant.Tank farm
The tank farm had tanks for benzene, cumene, phenol ( pure and an 88% solution of phenol in water), alpha-methylstyreneAlpha-Methylstyrene
α-Methylstyrene is a chemical intermediate used in the manufacture of plasticizers, resins and polymers. It is a co-product formed in a variation of the cumene process. The homopolymer obtained from this monomer, poly, is unstable, being characterized by a low ceiling temperature....
and heavy ends tar. The phenol tanks had steam coils to keep the phenol liquid. Phenol melts at 45 degrees.
Utilities
The plant consumes steam supplied by the boiler house. The phenol plant had three levels of steam and condensate collection that returned the hot steam condensate to the boiler house. The heavy ends tar was sent to the boiler house as a supplement to the natural gas fuel used in boiler number 4. The sulphuric acid used as a catalyst in the cleavage reactor left the process via the heavy ends. The sulfate in this tar stream gave a blue tinge to the otherwise clear plume from number four boiler house stack. There was also a gas flareGas flare
A gas flare, alternatively known as a flare stack, is an elevated vertical conveyance found accompanying the presence of oil wells, gas wells, rigs, refineries, chemical plants, natural gas plants, and landfills....
to burn the by product propane
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
. This material was an imputirtiy in the propylene. Normally it was condensed, stored in high pressure tanks and sold. Waste water was collected and treated at the site effluent treatment plant before being discharged into sewer.
Book
- 1 Huntsman Environment Improvement Plan EIP-2 April 1999
- 2 Huntsman Environment Improvement Plan EIP-3 September 2003.
- 3 Chemistry: A Key to the Earth, second edition 1982. Chief Editor Peter Mc Tigue
- 4 Faith Hope & $5000 The Story of Monsanto, Dan J Forrestal 1977
Web
See also
- Chemical engineeringChemical engineeringChemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
- ChemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
- Huntsman Corp.Huntsman Corp.Huntsman Corporation is a global chemical company with over 12,000 employees. 2010 revenues were over $9 billion.Huntsman serves a variety of end markets, the largest of which is consumer durables and non-durables, followed by paints and coatings, insulation and other construction materials,...