Chevron Phillips Adds New Furnace

Chevron Phillips Chemical will add a new furnace to an ethylene steam cracking unit at its petrochemical complex in Old Ocean, Texas. The unit will increase ethylene availability at the site by 200 million lb per year when it is completed next year. The site is one of the largest ethylene complexes in the world, with 4.1 billion lb of ethylene capacity, the firm says. The furnace will help it meet customer demand until a bigger project, scheduled for 2017, comes on-line. That project entails the construction of a 3.3 billion-lb-per-year cracker in Baytown, Texas, as well as two new polyethylene plants in Old Ocean.