Bidboland Gas Refinery, one of the projects to help feed petrochemical industries in southern Iran, has made 90% progress and will go on stream next September.
Located in the southwestern Khuzestan Province, it will supply Dena Ethylene Pipeline, a branch of the West Ethylene Pipeline, and petrochemical companies in Mahshahr, the Association of Petrochemical Employers Union reported.
The refinery will provide feedstock required for ethylene production units in five companies via the Dena ethylene conduit.
The five plants, which are all under construction and expected to go on stream next year, include the Kazeroon and Mamasani petrochemical companies in Fars Province, Gachsaran and Dehdasht petrochemical plants in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province and Boroujen Petrochemical Company in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province.
A subsidiary of the National Iranian Gas Company, Bidboland refinery will have an annual production capacity of 10.3 million tons of methane, 1.5 million tons ethane, 1.5 million tons propane and butane, and 400 tons of gas condensates.
The West Ethylene Pipeline is a 1,200km pipeline that runs from Asalouyeh in the south to West Azarbaijan Province in the northwest. When fully operational it will have the capacity of supplying 3.5 million tons of ethylene.
Ethylene is the building block for a range of chemicals, from plastics to antifreeze solutions and solvents.
With an estimated global output of over 150 million tons in 2016, ethylene is the most commercially produced gaseous compound. Iran’s annual output of ethylene is estimated at 7.3 million tons.
