Research & Development

MTO/OCP: a strategic research project

Testing innovative processes for making plastics

Preparing the energy future

In a context of growing energy demand, diminishing oil resources and preoccupying climate change, oil companies like Total have an added responsibility: not just to meet todays energy needs but to ensure that we can also meet tomorrows needs in a sustainable way. Our approach here is triple: rstly to reduce our own CO2 emissions and help develop CO2 capture and storage technologies. Our Lacq pilot, in France, the Groups largest research project, is focused on this. Secondly to help develop complementary energies such as nuclear, solar photovoltaic, or biomass. And thirdly to use remaining oil and gas resources as rationally as possible in applications where other resources are less efcient, such as motor fuels and petrochemicals. At the same time, we are also looking at new motor-fuel solutions (such as gas-to-liquids, biomass-to-liquids and di-methyl ether as well as hydrogen fuelcell technology) and alternative raw materials such as ethane to produce our petrochemicals. This is the rationale for the Groups second-largest current research project, the Methanol-To-Olens (MTO)/Olen-Cracking-Process (OCP) demonstration plant at Feluy, in Belgium, aimed at developing a capacity to produce olens and subsequently plastics from methanol to diversify feedstock. Total is a leading player in this eld and we believe MTO/OCP has a very promising future. Christophe de Margerie CEO, Total

The Feluy MTO/OCP demonstration project - a world rst

All around the world, the chemicals industry is based on oil or natural gas. Olens that are subsequently transformed into polyolens the raw material for plastics are produced from naphtha, derived from crude oil, or ethane, derived from natural gas. Intended to diversify petrochemicals feedstock, the Feluy demonstration plant is designed to test on a semiindustrial scale the economic feasibility of two processes to derive olens and subsequently polymers from methanol, which can be produced from natural gas but also from coal or biomass.

Cutting-edge technology
The Feluy demonstration plant combines the Methanol-to-Olens (MTO) process developed by UOP/Hydro and the Olen Cracking Process (OCP) developed jointly by Total and UOP. Combined use of the two processes connected downstream to a polymerization demonstration unit makes the Feluy unit a world rst.

The MTO/OCP project in gures

> Cost: 45 million > Construction: 3 years > Project team: 30 people > Workers on site: 200 at construction peak > Work time: 200,000 man-hours on site > Safety: 0 lost-time accidents (LTIR)

Four stages
> Methanol feedstock, brought to the Feluy site by truck, is rst transformed into light olens
(ethylene and propylene, or C2 and C3 in petrochemicals jargon) in the MTO unit. > This process also results in some heavier olens, C4 and C6, which are then transformed in the OCP unit into additional ethylene and propylene. > All these light olens are then separated and sent to the pilot polymerization unit at the adjacent Research Centre to be transformed into polyethylene and polypropylene. > All polyolens are then extensively tested to ensure that they meet all the commercial specications.

Four aims
> To test the integration of the MTO and OCP processes > To improve the performance of the process and catalysts as production proceeds > To demonstrate, via the Research Centres polymerization unit, that the olens can be puried to the
standards specied for polymerization in Totals industrial units > To validate the conditions of up-scaling the process chain to a full industrial scale.

MTO/OCP project partners

MTO/OCP and Wallonia Region > Total Petrochemicals > UOP is a leading developer and licensor of
technologies for the rening and petrochemicals industries. The U.S. rm, which is present across Europe, Asia and North America, specialises in processes, catalysts and absorbents.
In line with its innovation policy and realising that the MTO/OCP project would provide real economic stimulus, the Wallonia regional authorities contributed 2.2 million to the project cost. The project involved, during its construction phase, more than 100 Belgian contractors, most of them located in Wallonia.

Gas

Methanol C2 Biomass C4 C6 C3

Polyethylene

Polypropylen

MTO
Coal C2 (Ethylene) C3 (Propylene)

Polymerization

OCP

Challenge and reward

The major challenge for the MTO/OCP team is the purity of the olens produced: the oxygen present in methanol means that the olens have to be carefully puried to meet the increasingly stringent standards required for polymerization. The Feluy unit includes a comprehensive purication train downstream of the reactor, another world rst. On the reward side, in addition to the importance of unlocking alternative feedstock (natural gas, coal and biomass) for making petrochemicals, the integrated MTO/OCP process offers a higher yield of good-quality light olens. The process has a market advantage too: it produces signicantly more propylene than ethylene, whereas the naphthato-olens process produces twice as much ethylene as propylene. This makes MTO/OCP very attractive because demand for polypropylene is growing faster than demand for polyethylene, while polyethylene production capacity is growing faster than polypropylene capacity, because of the new ethane-based projects in the Middle East.

Site synergies
The MTO/OCP unit has beneted from the expertise in process engineering at the Feluy Research Centre during the design and construction phase and will benet from on-site expertise in technical assistance for polymerization and catalysis, and of course the Centres specialists are on hand for start-up trouble-shooting too. The project has also captured operational synergies by using existing Feluy plant personnel competencies and production-site facilities (control room, utilities network, are, maintenance services and discharge treatment bio-station). The unit will be operated by the plant.

Feluy Research Centre

> R&D on petrochemicals and rening
- applied catalysis research - process engineering and development > Technical assistance to production plants and customers > Close synergy with adjacent 500-hectare production plant (polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene) > On-site pilot units (polymers, base chemicals/rening) > Operational budget: 84 million/year > Staff: 520 people (350 in R&D/technical assistance)

ne

Safety and environment

Safety is a particular concern because of the complexity of the process chain and the experimental nature of site operations, so the hazards operability review, safety procedures and training have been given very close attention. During construction, safety signs and training were in multiple languages because of the many nationalities involved. Project goals include an environmental aspect: all waste water is treated to recover unconverted methanol and then sent to the production plant bio-station for further purication. An HSE team will forecast the hazards involved in a full-scale plant and the MTO/OCP processes will be adjusted accordingly if needed.

Future prospects
The logical next step is to apply the MTO/OCP process on a fully industrial scale, probably in an integrated project at a gas or coal extraction site. These resources, or at a later stage also biomass (including waste), would be converted to synthesis gas, then methanol, then olens, and nally into polymers on site.

A strategic investment
The MTO/OCP project is a technical achievement of which we can all be proud and also a strategic investment. This cutting-edge project brings together expertise from all petrochemical disciplines and demonstrates our ability to develop new technologies and our expertise in integrating complex processes. Methanol is also an invaluable complement to oil in meeting growing demand for ethylene and particulary for propylene. MTO/OCP technology should allow us to diversify our feedstock and strengthen our position. In a context where polyethylene capacity is high but where demand for polypropylene is growing the fastest, MTO/OCP expertise will give Total a further advantage. Once the Feluy plant has demonstrated that the combined process is viable, we will be in a position to carry out integrated methanol-based projects in many parts of the world. Franois Cornlis President Chemicals, Total

Total Petrochemicals - A world-class player

Total Petrochemicals, one of the worlds leading petrochemicals producers, focuses on base chemicals and their related polymers - polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene. With a workforce of 7,000 people, Brussels-based Total Petrochemicals operates in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. Our products mainly marketed as granules and then converted into various forms of plastic serve a wide range of domestic and industrial markets including packaging, construction and automotive applications. 3 business units > Base Chemicals (olens, C4 fractions, aromatics) > Polyolens (polyethylene, polypropylene) > Styrenics (styrene, polystyrene) 17 production plants Europe, United States, Asia, Middle East 4 R&D / technical centres Feluy (Belgium), La Porte (United States), Mont/Lacq & Lyon (France)

What are petrochemicals?

These are chemicals derived from hydrocarbons such as oil (the main raw material), natural gas and coal. The main basic petrochemicals are olens (including ethylene and propylene) and aromatics (including benzene, styrene and xylene isomers). Olens are mainly produced via catalytic cracking or steam cracking while aromatics are produced by catalytic reforming or similar processes. These base chemicals are then transformed by stages into adhesives, solvents, detergents, resins, bres and of course plastics.

Total
A global multi-energy provider
Total is the worlds fourth-largest oil and gas group, with operations in more than 130 countries and spanning the entire oil and gas chain: > exploration and production of oil and gas; > downstream gas; > rening and marketing; > trading and shipping of crude oil and rened products Total is a world-class chemicals producer and has interests in coal mining and power generation. The Group is also helping to secure the future of energy through its commitment to developing complementary energies, such as nuclear, solar or biomass. Total has more than 95,000 employees worldwide and posted sales of 158.7 billion in 2007.
Photo Collection Total Petrochemicals/Michel Clinckemaille/Enterprise Communication www.enterprise-communication.be 07/2008 H7419

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TOTAL PETROCHEMICALS RESEARCH FELUY Zoning Industriel, Zone C 7181 Feluy - Belgium