KBR to provide LBED services to expand capacity of ethylene plant in Korea

KBR, Inc has been awarded a technology licensing and basic engineering design (LBED) revamp contract by LG Chem for its ethylene plant in Daesan, South Korea. Under the terms of contract, KBR will provide LBED services to expand the plant’s ethylene capacity by 230,000 tons per year to a total of 1,270,000 tons per year through the addition of two new SCORTEM SC-1 proprietary furnaces and product recovery system modifications.

This project is part of a larger LG Chem Daesan facility expansion that will enable the company to produce additional high value-added ethylene derivative products.

The LG Chem Daesan Ethylene Plant is a heritage KBR Licensed facility that had an original ethylene nameplate capacity of 350,000 tons per year. Through close cooperation between LG Chem and KBR, the facility has been revamped multiple times over the years allowing LG Chem to remain one of the leaders in ethylene production.

John Derbyshire, president, KBR Technology and Consulting (T&C) said that they are delighted to continue their close cooperation with LG Chem and that KBR’s cost-effective, industry leading capabilities will play a key role in LG Chem’s growth strategy to maintain its market lead and secure feedstock for high value-added downstream products.

The contract value was not disclosed. Expected revenue was booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR’s T&C Business Segment in fourth quarter 2016.

Since 1990, over 21 new ethylene plants with a combined capacity of 13 million metric tons per year have been brought on-stream using KBR’s cost-effective, cracking technologies and flexible plant designs to produce ethylene, propylene and other byproducts from a variety of feedstocks.

KBR has been a leader in olefin plant design, construction and technology development for more than 50 years.