Doha - The Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) plant, which was formally inaugurated yesterday at Mesaieed industrial area, with its seven main units, is designed to produce 260 metric tonnes per day of normal paraffin from kerosene supplied by Qatar Petroleum refinery.
The plant also produces 104 metric tons per day of Benzene, recovered from treated Pyrolysis Gasoline (Pygas), supplied from Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) and Q-Chem. Part of benzene is also produced from Reformate supplied by QP Refinery. A small quantity of about 3,600 tonnes per annum of Heavy Alkyl Benzene (HAB) by-product is also produced which is used as base for lube oil manufacture.
The project was conceived in 2002, and the EPC Contract was awarded to South Korean Company LG Engineering and Construction (now renamed GS Engineering and Construction) two years later. The market study and Front End Engineering Design (FEED) was carried out by Foster Wheeler Energy of UK.
The plant is designed to produce 100,000 metric tonnes of LAB annually and comprises three major production processes, including normal paraffin production, benzene extraction and LAB production. In order to produce 100,000 metric ton of LAB require 80,000 metric tons of n-paraffin and 36,000 metric tons of benzene.
© The Peninsula 2007
