CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY
Imperial Oil Limited | September 07, 2022
Imperial announced a long-term contract with Air Products to supply low-carbon hydrogen for Imperial’s proposed renewable diesel complex at its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta. Air Products will provide pipeline supply from its hydrogen plant under construction in Edmonton.
“Our agreement with Air Products is an important milestone as we progress plans to build the largest renewable diesel manufacturing facility in Canada. This project highlights Imperial’s commitment to investing in a lower carbon future. We continue to progress discussions with our business partners and governments as we work toward a final investment decision in the months ahead.”
Jon Wetmore, Imperial’s vice president of downstream
Imperial will use Air Products’ low-carbon hydrogen to produce renewable diesel at Strathcona that substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions relative to conventional production. The hydrogen and biofeedstock will be combined with a proprietary catalyst to produce premium low-carbon diesel fuel.
Air Products is increasing overall investment in its Edmonton hydrogen facility to CAD $1.6 billion to support the Imperial contract. The additional investment by Air Products will be used to facilitate integration with Imperial’s proposed project that is expected to enable further significant emissions reductions at Air Products’ overall complex. Air Products will supply Strathcona with approximately 50 percent of the low-carbon hydrogen output from the 165 million standard cubic feet per day hydrogen production complex.
“There is significant demand for low-carbon hydrogen, and as a first-mover, Air Products is ready to meet that demand from our Alberta Blue Hydrogen Hub,” said Dr. Samir J. Serhan, chief operating officer at Air Products. “Canada is rapidly implementing an energy transition that emphasizes the use of low-carbon hydrogen, and Air Products is demonstrating that world-scale hydrogen facilities can be net-zero for carbon emissions. We continue to set the stage for a competitive, low-carbon-intensity hydrogen network, which includes increasing liquid hydrogen production capacity at our site to 35 metric tonnes per day, to provide clean hydrogen for the growing industrial and mobility markets across Canada.”
Imperial’s renewable diesel complex is expected to produce more than 1 billion litres per year of renewable diesel from locally sourced feedstocks. First announced in August 2021, the project is anticipated to realize about 3 million tonnes per year in emissions reductions in the Canadian transportation sector, which is estimated to be the equivalent to taking more than 650,000 vehicles off the road annually. The project is projected to create about 600 direct construction jobs, along with hundreds more through investments by business partners.
Third-party studies have shown renewable diesel from various non-petroleum feedstocks can provide life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions reductions of approximately 40 to 80 percent as compared to petroleum-based diesel.
About Imperial Oil Limited
After more than a century, Imperial continues to be an industry leader in applying technology and innovation to responsibly develop Canada’s energy resources. As Canada’s largest petroleum refiner, a major producer of crude oil, a key petrochemical producer and a leading fuels marketer from coast to coast, our company remains committed to high standards across all areas of our business.
About Air Products
Air Products is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the Company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The Company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world's largest industrial gas projects, including: gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals; carbon capture projects; and world-scale low- and zero-carbon hydrogen projects supporting global transportation and the energy transition.
The Company had fiscal 2021 sales of $10.3 billion from operations in over 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of over $55 billion. More than 20,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products’ higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world.
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CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY
Offen Petroleum | August 24, 2022
Offen Petroleum announced today that it has completed the acquisition of the wholesale division of G&S Oil Products, headquartered in Centennial, CO. Offen is a leading independent distributor of motor fuels, propane, and lubricants, and offers petroleum logistics services in 40 U.S. states. The acquisition continues to strengthen Offen's ability to distribute major oil company branded motor fuel to independent retailers.
G&S has been owned and operated by the Sussman family for over 50 years. G&S is a full-service wholesale and retail marketer of branded motor fuels under the Conoco, Phillips 66, Sinclair, and Shell brands as well as a supplier of unbranded fuels, with a footprint covering the greater Front Range of Colorado. In addition to providing wholesale motor fuel services to third-party retailers, G&S has developed a reputation of operational excellence in their own network of gas stations and convenience stores. After the transaction, G&S will continue to operate their portfolio of convenience stores and automotive service centers.
"We've had a long relationship with Bill Gallagher, and we knew that if we were going to sell our wholesale business, Offen would be the best partner for not only our wholesale customers, but also for our company operated stores, who will be a fuel customer of Offen's. The Offen team has a reputation of providing the highest level of customer care and they have a full breadth of resources that will benefit our customers."
Meyer Sussman, Founder and President of G&S
This acquisition will add 40 new customers that operate gas stations under the Conoco, Phillips, and Sinclair brands along with five un-branded motor fuel customers. The addition of G&S's customers deepens Offen's operations in Colorado, further enhances Offen's position as one of the leading fuel distributors in the United States and grows Offen's commitment to the branded dealer business.
"Meyer and Jeff Sussman and their team of dedicated, long-term employees, are long-standing, highly respected operators in the motor fuel/convenience retail industry, and I am very honored that the Sussman's are entrusting Offen to carry on their legacy of providing superior service to their customers," said Bill Gallagher, Offen's CEO. "This is a very special opportunity for us to be able to acquire such a high-quality portfolio of customers."
About Offen Petroleum
Headquartered in Commerce City, CO, Offen is a growing distributor of motor fuels, propane, and lubricants that dedicates itself to serving its customers with the highest level of service. In addition to organic growth, Offen is a leading acquiror of companies in this consolidating marketplace. Offen distributes over 2.2 billion gallons of motor fuel annually and will serve customers throughout 40 United States. In addition to branded and unbranded motor fuels, Offen sells propane, and lubricant products and solutions for the commercial, industrial, and passenger car segments, as well as diesel exhaust fluids used in emission controls. Offen is a portfolio company of Court Square Capital Partners, a New York based private equity firm with $7 billion of assets under management.
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CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT
KBC | August 19, 2022
KBC announces the release of a new version of its award-winning Petro-SIM® process simulation software. Version 7.3 now has a more reliable and robust reactor for modeling bio-oils and an emission calculation model for gas turbines and burners. As operators transition to clean energy, they now have access to highly accurate methods to design, monitor, and streamline operations while improving margins. Petro-SIM 7.3 technology lays the foundation for AI-based automated model maintenance, supporting the first of a series of applications that will deploy later this year.
Many countries are transitioning towards cleaner energy sources and optimizing energy consumption to reduce carbon emissions. The result is stringent environmental regulations that process industries must follow, which squeeze their already tight margins. The Petro-SIM 7.3 simulation tool has broadened its decarbonization simulation capabilities to accurately depict decarbonization processes, making it a scalable solution that helps operators overcome these challenges.
"The Petro-SIM 7.3 process simulator is a versatile tool that can now better provide accurate information to multiple units along the supply chain. Operators can use this data to predict potential problems, minimize system downtime, and design efficient systems. Our technology integrates into daily work processes to deliver reliable predictions of combustion emissions, potential equipment failures, and operational risks. Engineers can now go beyond traditional model building to optimizing operations, advancing performance monitoring, automating production scheduling, analyzing, and reducing emissions from combustion sources."
Rodolfo Tellez-Schmill, product champion for process simulation
The petrochemical-polymer industry in particular is seeing a growing demand. However, the complexity of polymer processing makes it challenging for polymer manufacturers to develop and design process technologies to meet the necessary product quality. Petro-SIM 7.3 software with Predici-SIM technology can now simulate polymerization processes. This allows operators to evaluate and manage challenges so they develop and produce new polymer grades with desirable properties while optimizing key performance indicators and maintaining operating conditions in steady-state and dynamic modes for the entire petrochemical-polymer supply chain.
Russell Byfield, global simulation business leader, further comments, "Throughout our 43-year history, KBC has created software applications to solve the most challenging problems across the process industry value chain from upstream, midstream to downstream, and petrochemicals. We take pride in offering one of the most comprehensive and advanced simulation software solutions in the industry. Its breadth and depth are unmatched, and its versatility enables our customers to efficiently and effectively address many challenges."
About KBC
KBC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yokogawa Electric Corporation, is all about excellence in the Energy and Chemical industry. We make excellence real for our customers through the actions of our people fused with our technology and best practices. We provide leading software and expert services, powered by the cloud, to assure process operations achieve their full potential. Our customers achieve operating performance that surpasses ordinary standards, now and into the future.
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