Enterprise Products Partners, a provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals in North America, has planned to construct a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The plant will use propane of nearly 35,000 barrels per day (BPD) to produce about 750,000 metric tons of polymer grade propylene (PGP) per year. The new PDH unit will integrate the existing propylene and natural gas liquids (NGL) facilities of the company. The facility is anticipated to start commercial operations in the 3Q of 2015.
The unit will be supported by Enterprise Products’ NGL fractionation and storage system. Once the expansion work is completed by 2015, the company will have 708,000 BPD of NGL fractionation capacity, which will deliver nearly 177,000 BPD of propane. The unit will also be supported by the company’s about 100 million barrels of petrochemical and NGL storage plants in the region. In the year 2015, the PDH facility will also be complemented by Enterprise Products’ approximately 80,000 BPD of propylene fractionation capacity. The integration of the PDH facility along with the propylene fractionation facilities will provide operational flexibility and reliability for both processes.
The establishment of the PDH facility extends their propane value chain, stated A.J. Jim Teague, EVP and COO of Enterprise Products’ general partner. Enterprise also operates PGP storage units, as well as a 102-mile pipeline system that is capable of distributing PGP to 18 downstream clients and to international markets via the company’s propylene export terminal located in Seabrook, Texas.