South African energy and chemicals group Sasol continues to diversify its local business portfolio by driving several local chemical projects, including the 334.5 t Fischer-Tropsch wax expansion project (FTWEP) and the new Ethylene Purification Unit 5 (EPU5), both located in Sasolburg, in the Free State, and the R1.3-billion C3 stabilisation project, in Secunda, Mpumalanga.

Speaking during the company’s financial results announcement last month, Sasol president and CEO David Constable pointed out that the FTWEP was “progressing well”, with the commissioning of the new slurry bed reactor, which was critically important for the capacity expansion, expected to take place during the fourth quarter of the current calendar year.

The project, once completed, is expected to increase Sasol’s total local production of wax products by about 65%.

Further, he noted that the commissioning of Phase 2 of the FTWEP was on track to take place during the second half of 2016 and that the total project cost for both phases remained unchanged at R13.6-billion.

Meanwhile, in August, the last of the longlead items were installed in the new wax plant.

The equipment, consisting of a 499 t wax reactor load, a 136.5 t quench tower load and a 76 t separator drum load, was transported as super loads on prime-mover multiaxle trailers.

Secunda Stabilisation Project

Constable highlighted that the company’s C3 stabilisation programme would improve the extraction of propylene to produce higher-value chemicals at Sasol’s Secunda plant and that the programme had achieved “beneficial operations” during June this year.

The objective of the project is to stabilise the C3 value chain in Secunda by delinking the “extremely tight integration” between the upstream synthol reactors, the propylene extraction units and the downstream chemical plants.

He added that the programme was completed on time and within budget.

Ethylene Purification Unit 5

Constable and Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies, inaugurated Sasol’s EPU5 in January in Sasolburg.

Located at the Sasol Polymers plant, the R1.9-billion ethylene purification unit aims to not only meet increasing demand for polyethylene material but also ensure better use of Sasol’s existing downstream polyethylene facilities.

Speaking at the official opening, Constable said the installation allowed for more significant production capacity that would, in turn, produce more ethylene.

“In so doing, our investment in EPU5, together with a new compressor unit in Secunda, will provide the South African plastics manufacturing industry with an additional 47 000 t/y of polyethylene.”

The EPU5 is in the operational phase and the plant is expected to reach full capacity by 2017.

“The South African plastics industry is a significant contributor to the national economy. Local demand for polyethylene polymers continues to grow at a rate of 4% to 5% a year. With a rise in new plant capacities and the need to be globally competitive, we recognised the need to expand polymer and ethylene production,” says Sasol Polymers MD Marinus Sieberhagen.

He adds that the plant is also designed to reduce hydrocarbon flaring, which has significantly reduced the carbon footprint of Sasol’s total local ethylene production capacity.

Local engineering and construction service providers were subcontracted to execute significant portions of the work.

This amounted to about 4.6-million work hours and resulted in “all-important” knowledge transfer and skills development in construction and advanced welding techniques.

“At the height of construction, we were able to create 1 000 construction jobs, predominately sourced from the local community in Sasolburg. For Sasol, this project not only illustrates our unwavering focus on unlocking the full potential of our chemical assets but also demonstrates our commitment to our customers to ensure improved supply and our belief in and support for the communities in which we live and work,” Constable concluded.