Fred Festa, chairman and CEO, Grace. (File photo)
COLUMBIA, US: Chemical company W R Grace & Co said that Advanced Refining Technologies® (ART), the company’s joint venture with Chevron Products Company, will invest approximately $135 million to build a residue hydroprocessing catalyst plant and additional alumina capacity at the existing Grace manufacturing facility in Lake Charles, LA. Construction is expected to begin in late 2015 with completion anticipated in 2018.
An ever-increasing global push for bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading is leading to a significant increase in investment by refiners for fixed bed resid hydrotreating and ebullating bed resid hydrocracking process technologies. The new ART plant will be designed to meet the increased catalyst requirements for these units, which are licensed and already under construction.
“This will be a world-class, world-scale catalysts plant that is responding to strong global demand for ART’s industry-leading products for residue upgrading, capitalizing on the success of our licensing partner, Chevron Lummus Global,” said Fred Festa, chairman and CEO, Grace.
“We are pleased that this investment with Grace will keep ART and Chevron at the forefront of hydroprocessing catalysis and technology,” said Mike Wirth, executive vice president, downstream and chemicals, Chevron.
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