A 101.8-meter ethylene fractionation column has been installed at the construction site of the Silleno polyethylene plant in Atyrau Region. The structure has a diameter of 7.5 meters and weighs over 1,800 tonnes. This was reported by the Kazenergy association, citing KazMunayGas, according to infohub.kz.
The column was manufactured in Kazakhstan at the AtyrauNefteMash plant. It will become one of the key elements of the pyrolysis unit and will be used to separate ethylene, the primary feedstock for polyethylene production.
A 4,000-tonne crawler crane and a 1,700-tonne auxiliary crane were used for the installation. The engineering operation took about five hours.
Overall project progress has reached 38.5%, against a target of 30%. About 5,000 people and more than 500 pieces of special equipment are working at the construction site.
Earlier it was reported that Silleno, which is building a plant in Atyrau Region to produce 1.25 million tonnes of polyethylene per year, posted a loss of 2.1 billion tenge for 2024, compared with 1 billion tenge in 2023.
The $7.4 billion investment project involves using gas from the Tengiz field as feedstock for polyethylene production.
The plant was scheduled to be launched in 2029. By 2030–2031, when the facility in Atyrau reaches its design capacity, polyethylene consumption in Kazakhstan will increase to at least 260,000–270,000 tonnes per year, up from the current 190,000 tonnes.