REXtac plans to build integrated PP plant in Texas
REXtac has started developing an integrated propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) project near its existing complex in Odessa, Texas.
The current US shale gas boom is breathing new life into the 51-year-old petrochemical and polymer history of Odessa, in Texas’ western dessert, some 150 km from the border with New Mexico.
REXtac has announced plans to build a new integrated PP line utilising propane dehydrogenation. A privately owned company active in the region, REXtac plans to invest more than USD 680m into two new 135,000 t/y PP lines due to be commissioned in the second half of 2016. The proposal also calls for an “Oleflex” dehydrogenation plant, based on UOP technology, and with capacity for 300,000 t/y of propylene. This will make REXtac self-sufficient of propylene supply to the current APAO products and future PP products.
REXtac first acquired the site in 2009, after its previous owner, Flint Hills Resources, closed its cracker and polyolefin plants in Odessa in 2008. Today, REXtac manufactures amorphous poly alpha olefins in the city of 100,000.
According to company plans, REXtac's subsidiary, Rexpro, will not only recommission and modernise one of the site’s PP lines, but it will also build a second plant of similar capacity. The company names date back to the brand designation introduced for the site in "Rexene" and later “Reflex” in 1988. Until then, both the plant and its output were known as El Paso Products.
MELITEK is distributor for REXtec products in Europe and have supported the product line for over 15 years with focus on hygiene, packaging and adhesive markets.