Sasol resumes start-up of US Louisiana cracker after delay

Sasol has resumed start-up at its 1.5m tonne/year ethane cracker in Lake Charles, Louisiana in the US, the South Africa-based company said in an update on Monday.

The issue that initially interrupted start-up activities has been resolved, and a beneficial operation test run is halfway complete, the company said.

Sasol defines beneficial operation as production of on-spec material for at least 72 hours continuously.

On Saturday, the cracker produced ethylene that meets the requirements of some downstream derivative units but is "marginally below" polymer-grade specification as the acetylene reactor system is not performing up to expectations, the company said.

Sasol is upgrading the ethylene to specification.

The cracker is running at 50% and will ramp up further as operational issues are resolved, which Sasol said is in line with its plan.

The delay in the cracker has delayed the start-up of derivative units at the Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP).

The 420,000 tonne/year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, which was previously pushed back to mid-October, is now expected to achieve beneficial operations in November.

The Ziegler alcohols production unit and the ethoxylates unit should achieve beneficial operations in January 2020.

The Guerbet alcohols unit should achieve beneficial operations in March 2020.

Ethylene is a key petrochemical feedstock, used to make polyethylene (PE), ethylene glycol (EG) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) among other products.

Major US ethylene producers include Chevron Phillips Chemical, DowDuPont, ExxonMobil, INEOS Olefins & Polymers, LyondellBasell and Shell Chemical.