INEOS Oligomers has announced a phased 50% expansion of its LaPorte High Viscosity (HV) PAO unit.
The plant in Texas is expected to be fully operational by mid-2025.
The unit was initially built with a nameplate capacity of 20,000 tonnes per annum but was engineered to allow efficient expansion to support anticipated sales growth.
It was debottlenecked a first time last year to reach 25 kTpa and will expand again to almost 40 ktpa.
The unit’s production is based on a metallocene High Viscosity PAO technology.
In comparison to conventional materials, these decene-based metallocene products have a number of superior attributes such as: higher viscosity indices, lower pour points, higher shear stability and lower Brookfield viscosities.
The increased capacity of the HV PAO plant will meet the significant demand for wind turbines and other industrial applications.
Peter Steylaerts, business director INEOS Oligomers, said. “To date, the business has been a great success story for us, given the strong demand for wind turbines and other industrial applications. Customers like the options our products give them in the development of advanced new lubricant formulations.”
This is the second significant announcement from INEOS Oligomers, which recently started up its new 120,000 tonne per annum Low Viscosity Polyalphaolefin (LV PAO) unit at Chocolate Bayou.
The facility is the world’s largest single PAO train. It positions INEOS Oligomers as the world’s largest merchant supplier of LV PAO with an unprecedented production footprint in LV PAO. Facilities operated across 3 distinct locations, provide stronger security of supply to the global lubricants industry.
Joe Walton. CEO INEOS Oligomers, added: “Our world-scale capacity expansions in both LV and HV PAO, together with their corresponding LAO feedstock, underscore our market leadership. We have secured the growth aspirations of our customers for many years to come. These investments are a component of the ongoing INEOS Oligomers’ ‘organic’growth strategy that will ultimately double the size of our business.”
INEOS to expand high viscosity unit in Texas
