Nov 30 2009
ExxonMobil Chemical announced the completion and start-up of an expansion at its Rotterdam Aromatics Plant. The expansion has made this world-scale plant ExxonMobil's largest paraxylene production facility.
Paraxylene capacity at the plant has been increased by 25 percent to 700,000 tons, and benzene capacity increased by 20 percent to 830,000 tons per annum. The expansion at the Rotterdam complex, owned and operated by ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., was announced in 2007 and completed on schedule.
The expansion is part of ExxonMobil Chemical's strategy to develop world-scale, highly integrated chemical facilities with globally competitive cost structures. The new unit in Rotterdam benefits from integration with existing facilities and captures a number of synergies with the base plant.
"This expansion demonstrates ExxonMobil's commitment to invest, across the business cycle, in order to meet the longer term, growing customer demand for these products," said T.J. Wojnar, senior vice president, ExxonMobil Chemical Company. "This project is an example of our continued efforts to meet the supply and quality needs of our global customers."
The new unit employs ExxonMobil's proprietary PxMaxSM technology to produce paraxylene and benzene. The PxMax process improves selectivity, generates less waste and reduces energy requirements versus existing technologies.