Investing in efficiency

The annual capacity of SIBUR'S Blagoveshchensk site that produces terephthalic acid will expand to 350,000 tonnes.

This has been made possible thanks to the production upgrade SIBUR launched in late 2017. The project seeks to improve not only the site's capacity and production efficiency, but also environmental safety of the terephthalic acid production. The project is set to be completed in 2019.

Terephthalic acid is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a basic material for the production of modern polymer packaging for mineral water, dairy products, juices, sunflower oil, and products of the textile, medical and other industries. The Russian terephthalic acid market is undersupplied, so this production upgrade will help to substitute a major part of imports. On top of that, the site’s atmospheric emissions are expected to shrink twofold thanks to the upgrade of all gas emission treatment systems and the construction of a modern gas catalytic oxidiser. Transition to rotary pressure filters will translate into 1.5 times lower industrial wastewater discharges from the terephthalic acid production. The production upgrade will virtually prevent excessive evaporation into the atmosphere resulting from a significant release of heat during terephthalic acid synthesis. After the upgrade, vapour will go through special cooling systems to return to the process flow, improving the site’s energy efficiency multifold.

Terephthalic acid (TPA) production site view, POLIEF.

“The investment project at the Blagoveshchensk site seeks to meet the increasing demand from the food industry. It is also an important step of our production upgrade strategy intended to maximise energy efficiency and environmental safety of our facilities,” said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of SIBUR's Management Board.

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