US-based Lummus Technology (The Woodlands, Texas; www.lummustechnology.com) said in November 2020 that it will deliver 14 cracking furnaces to a large polyethylene production site under construction near Ust-Luga / Russia on the Gulf of Finland at the starting point of the “Nord Stream 2” gas pipeline. The EUR 12 bn Baltic Chemical Complex was announced in 2019, with the first output due in 2023; plans are for two crackers, each with a capacity of 1.4m t/y of ethylene, plus downstream, six swing lines for HD/LLDPE production, each with a nameplate capacity of 500,000 t/y (see Plasteurope.com of 20.11.2019). Ethane for production is to come from a nearby LNG site.

Lummus, which is jointly owned by India’s Haldia Petrochemicals (Kolkata; www.haldiapetrochemicals.com) and US private equity group Rhône Capital (New York City; www.rhonegroup.com), said it will supply engineering and proprietary “Short Residence Time” (SRT) VI cracking furnaces to the project, which is being built by China National Chemical Engineering & Construction Corporation Seven (CC7), a unit of China National Chemical Engineering (Beijing; www.cncec.cn). The project manager, Baltic Chemical Plant, is a subsidiary of the Russian petrochemical firm RusGazDobycha (Moscow; www.rusgasdob.ru).

Lummus said its two crackers and the associated equipment will allow for an ethylene capacity of up to 3m t/y, which is slightly more than originally announced. “The benefits offered by Lummus Technology include significant reduction in the output of byproducts and specific consumption of utilities,” said Konstantin Makhov, general director of Baltic Chemical Plant LLC. “The process also offers feedstock flexibility as it is possible to feed of up to 10% propane in case of an ethane shortage.”