Methane is currently used to fuel crackers that pyrolyze naphtha at temperatures in the region of 850°C. Under Mitsui Chemicals' vision, however, CO2 emissions from these crackers will be reduced by converting them to run on clean ammonia instead. If undertaken at all its crackers, this fuel transition is forecast to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 700,000 tonnes.
The plan to switch these crackers to run on ammonia has been adopted as an R&D project under Japanese government-linked NEDO’s Green Innovation Fund. This project has seen Mitsui Chemicals partner with Maruzen Petrochemical, Toyo Engineering and Sojitz Machinery to undertake joint development aimed at implementation in 2030.
Mitsui Chemicals is also transitioning away from the fossil fuel naphtha currently used to make plastics and other chemical products. The company plans to switch to bio-based hydrocarbons, other biomass-derived raw materials and pyrolysis oil from plastic waste. Previously the company took delivery of a cargo of bio-based feedstock from Neste's Singapore refinery for production of bio-based plastics.
Image courtesy of Mitsui Chemicals
In addition to manufacturing renewable chemicals from these feedstocks, Mitsui Chemicals will consider further canceling out its CO2 emissions by using the mass balance method to assign biomass-derived properties to 200,000 tonnes of CO2 emitted by the Osaka Works.
MLT Analytics are experts regarding bio-based polyolefins, having published a comprehensive report on this subject earlier this year.
Carbon capture on the cards
Mitsui Chemicals is also utilizing byproduct gases and oils produced by naphtha crackers in its utility plants and the like. With the aid of capture and liquefaction devices, Mitsui Chemicals also plans convert 700,000 tons of CO2 emitted by these processes into liquefied CO2. The compabny will consider using some of this liquefied CO2 in collaborative carbon capture and utilization (CCU) efforts at the industrial complex. While working to expand collaboration at the complex to a larger scale, Mitsui Chemicals will also consider carbon capture and storage (CCS) of a portion of the liquefied CO2 by injecting it underground for storage.