The U.S Department of Energy has awarded LyondellBasell a $4.5 million grant to improve the energy efficiency of producing ethylene from ethane gas while emitting fewer greenhouse gases, the company said Tuesday.
"Access to low-cost ethane from shale gas over the past three years has changed the competitive position of the U.S. chemical industry," Tim Roberts, Senior Vice President, Olefins and Polyolefins - Americas said in a statement. "We have an opportunity to further this advantage through greater energy efficiencies in our manufacturing processes. This grant helps to facilitate faster development of catalyst-assisted technology for ethane cracking."
LyondellBasell, in collaboration with Quantiam Technologies and BASF, will develop the new energy saving technology in a three-part program over the next three years, the statement said. It will build upon earlier-generation ethane and naphtha-fed catalytic coating technology for steam crackers developed by BASF Qtech by extending the benefits to ethane and natural gas liquid-fed steam crackers. The estimated cost share for this project in addition to the DOE grant is $2.2 million.
LyondellBasell has six steam cracking units in the U.S. and can process ethane and natural gas liquids for up to 85% of their feedstocks.