| An announcement of Synthos´s intention to sell used Butadiene production plant |  |
Synthos Kralupy a.s. is a petrochemical complex situated approximately 20 km north of the city Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
The company was founded under name Kaučuk Kralupy in the year 1958 and it was commenced in the year 1963.
Synthos Kralupy a.s. produces Styrene butadiene rubber, Polybutadiene rubbers, Polystyrenes (EPS, GPPS, HIPS, XPS) and Monomers, it means Ethylbenzene, Styrene and Butadiene.
2. Information about Butadiene production plant
However Synthos Kralupy a.s. started production of 1,3 butadiene since the year 1964, the new Butadiene plant was commenced in the year 1978 based on Nippon Zeon technology.
Subsequent lines shown some basic facts about the unit.
Original capacity 70 000 T/year (of pure butadiene )
170 000 T/year (of crude C4 fraction)
First start up of the unit March / 1978
Increasing of the installed capacity 1986
Revamped capacity 90 000 T/year (of pure butadiene )
210 000 T/year (of crude C4 fraction)
The dimethyl-formamide (DMF) is designed like the solvent for extractive distillation process.
The chief supplier and engineering was done for both cases by Germany engineering company Lurgi AG.
The raw material sent towards unit is crude C4 fraction (a cut from the steam cracker) and operability range of the plant is between 36 – 52 % of 1,3 butadiene in the raw material, it means in the feed.
3. PRODUCT AND BY-PRODUCT
Pure 1,3 butadiene, Raffinate 1 as well as raw material are stored in spherical tanks at the tank farm located approximately 2 km far from the Butadiene plant. This storage is located out of Synthos production area. Now the tank farm is utilized for the needs of new Butadiene production plant which was started up in the half of the year 2010.
Butadiene monomer – standard purity 99,65 wt %. This product concentration is fully sufficient for production of styrene-butadiene rubbers. It was possible to produce higher quality of 1,3 butadiene (up to 99,80 wt.%), but it was not necessary to produce such pure product.
Raffinate 1 (one) - the content of 1,3 butadiene was standardly less than 0,2 wt % . This by-product is used as the feedstock to MTBE unit.
The acetylenes off gas was utilized as a fuel at Synthos Power station unit.
4. CONCLUSION
The Butadiene plant according to Nippon Zeon technology belonged among most significant unit in the company. The plant produced the perfect product and by-product till the Jully of the year 2010 when it has been shut down. The reason for stop of operation of this technology was owing to start up of new production plant with higher capacity. Anyway the Butadiene unit was fully functional till the latest moment of its operation.
After shut down all hydrocarbons were pumped out from the unit, the plant was completely emptied and conservated. The facilities is under nitrogen athmosphere and to be avoid potential damages during winter season some protective precautions were done.
This unit is offered for sale because its mechanical integrity is still on the good grade.
The list of main equipment is enclosed as well as a couple of photos.
In case of your interest and for more detail information contact directly:
Luboš H O M O L A
Synthos Kralupy a.s.
278 01 Kralupy nad Vltavou
Czech Republic
Phone: 00 420 315 714 780
Mobile: 00 420 736 506 750
Email address : lubos.homola@synthosgroup.com
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| Synthos at No.1 spot SYNTHOS SA won the first place in the ranking of the Listed Companies, which achieved the fastest Value Building Growth (VBG) in the energy and chemical industries. | |
Synthos Group has been steadily implementing a programme focusing on strategic business areas and at the same time attempting to take full advantage of the market conditions. The strategy adopted contributes to the company's growth and it is also reflected in the financial results achieved. The first place in the ranking validates the company development strategy.
In 2010 Synthos Group achieved revenue in excess of 3.86 billion PLN, and net profit of 476.2m PLN.
| Synthos among the Pearls of the Polish Economy In 2009, Synthos S.A. was awarded a certificate in the ranking of Polish businesses and received the title Pearl of the Polish Economy. | |
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| Synthos S.A. is accelerating its investments in new types of rubber The Synthos SA group is continuing the investment projects already begun. | |
The polybutadiene rubbers will be manufactured using the neodymium catalyst (PBR Nd). The technology for the production was purchased from Michelin and belongs to the world's newest generation of rubbers applied in tyre production. Due to improved characteristics and better performance, and the new European requirements regarding tyre parameters, the new Nd PBR will replace other types of rubber in the compounds of premium tyres.
The neodymium technology is more environmentally friendly, which means less energy is needed than for previous systems, and in addition to this an odourless solvent is used. Tyres which are manufactured using polybutadiene rubbers display excellent resistance to dynamic loads while their resistance to abrasion is also high. These properties extend the tyre lifetime and significantly reduce rolling friction, which leads to savings in fuel consumption.
"Michelin, as the supplier of the technology, will also be a customer for part of the production, according to a long-term contract. The remainder of the production will be sold under our own brand to other manufacturers in Europe and around the world. All the major tyre manufacturers have already confirmed their interest in the product. The market will see an increase in demand for PBR Nd rubber, owing to a resolution adopted by the European Parliament in May, which establishes the maximum permissible values associated with the use of car tyres, i.e. rolling friction, noise, adhesion, resistance to bursting," – explains Dariusz Krawczyk, Chairman of Synthos S.A.'s Board of Management.
The conditions imposed on tyre manufacturers will result in it being extremely difficult to produce tyres which meet the EU standards without using a PBR Nd rubber mix.
The investment is being realised at the Synthos plant in the Czech Republic.
A new butadiene extraction unit, the only Greenfield butadiene capacity to be built in Europe for many years, will increase the company’s backward integration to butadiene, as well as being able to increase rafinate 1 supplies to the neighbouring refinery. The new unit is part of JV with Unipetrol a.s. After production is initiated, Butadiene Kralupy a.s. will supply Synthos Kralupy a.s. with butadiene – the principle raw material for rubber manufacture, while the rafinate 1 produced will be supplied to companies affiliated to Unipetrol. The investment will be completed in the first quarter of 2010.
| Pearl of the Polish Economy Synthos S.A. was distinguished in Polish business enterprise ranking, being awarded a certificate and the Pearl of the Polish Economy title in the Outstanding Pearls category. | |
Synthos S.A. was distinguished in Polish business enterprise ranking, being awarded a certificate and the Pearl of the Polish Economy title in the Outstanding Pearls category. The distinction is awarded for the consistent implementation of the enterprise’s policy and strategy and for its position as a leader among Poland’s most dynamic and effective businesses.
Now in its sixth year, the Pearl of the Polish Economy ranking is jointly organised by the English language monthly, Polish Market and the Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Instytut Nauk Ekonomicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk). The Honorary Patrons are the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Waldemar Pawlak and the Chairman of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Michał Kleiber
| Best of European Business Synthos S.A. was honored with the "Best of European Business" award in the category »Mergers and Acquisitions« in the Polish national competition. The award was presented to Synthos S.A. for successful acquisition of the Czech company Kaučuk Kralupy, a.s. | |
Synthos S.A. was honored with the "Best of European Business" award in the category »Mergers and Acquisitions« in the Polish national competition. The award was presented to Synthos S.A. for successful acquisition of the Czech company Kaučuk Kralupy, a.s.
Companies that qualified for BEB competition were subject to assessment in three critical business categories: growth, mergers and acquisitions and international competitiveness. While voting for the leader in "Mergers and Acquisitions" category, the jury followed the "value of transactions in 2007" criterion as well as other qualitative criteria such as synergies in customer and product portfolio, geographic expansion, elimination of competition, improvement of value chain.
»Winning the „Best of European Business“ award is a fantastic and prestigious recognition for Synthos S.A. We really do appreciate the credit given by experts to our activities associated with acquisition of Kaučuk company. Because of this merger and with a help of smooth integration process in both companies as well as their close concurrence we are now able to respond to the current market situation without any obstacles,« said Dariusz Krawczyk, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Synthos S.A.
The Europe-wide competition „Best of European Business“ is organized by a consulting company Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. The aim is to chose the best and the most progressive company in Europe. Poland invited the competition for the fourth time. The winners of the Polish competition are amongst the best companies selected from five countries, i.e. France, Spain, Portugal and Germany where the „Best of European Business“ competition was hosted. The finale is scheduled to 2009.