CHEMICAL ELEMENT

The chemical industry is not a new trend for the Azerbaijani economy - for quite a long time in the past century, the industry was a blessing and a scourge for the country. A blessing because at that time Azerbaijan was one of the most important centres of chemical production in the Soviet Union, while the negative consequences included large damage to the region's environment, especially in Sumqayit, which was home to the main factories.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the industry declined significantly and experienced clear regression for many years. It was only after the handover of the Azerikimya State Company to SOCAR as a production association, according to the 2010 order of President Ilham Aliyev, that the first serious projects to revitalize this field emerged. Today, the structure of the production association includes such factories as Ethylene-Polyethylene, the factory of surfactants, Organic Synthesis, the factory of mechanical repairs, the Kimyaelmitadqiqatlayiha Institute and other departments.

Azerikimya chief Muxtar Babayev told R+ that technological infrastructure projects were implemented in 2012-2013 - new automation systems were introduced everywhere, water circulation and nitrogen-oxygen installations were commissioned, a new warehouse was created and transport and special equipment departments were set up. "We also set up a modern educational centre for training specialists for the petrochemical industry. It is planned to expand and modernize the stock of raw materials and finished products. In order to ensure environmental requirements, it is planned to build new modern wastewater treatment installations and installations for the production of sulphuric acid from hydrogen sulphide," Babayev said.

The innovations will also affect the Ethylene-Polyethylene plant - the main base enterprise of the Azerikimya production association for petrochemical production consisting of two main units - EP-300 and Polymir-120. So, to increase production capacity and ensure sustainable supplies of raw materials to EP-300, it was necessary to change from liquid to gaseous feedstock. In this regard, a programme of long-term development was developed, which envisages the reconstruction of EP-300 and Polymir-120 and the construction of new facilities - complete hydrogenation of the C4 fraction and amine cleaning of dry gas from acid impurities intended for preparation of raw materials. To ensure reliability and security, a system for the automation of processes will be installed.

According to the Azerikimya chief, the partial switch from liquid feedstock to gas led to an increase in the output of main products. "In the first eight months of this year, the Ethylene-Polyethylene factory processed 198,000 tons of raw materials. In addition, in December 2012, Azerikimya started shipping out chemical products through SOCAR's oil terminal in Kulevi, and eight tankers carrying butane-butylene fraction and three tankers carrying propylene have been dispatched from this terminal so far. Before the end of the year it is planned to dispatch another 3-5 tankers carrying butane-butylene fraction and 2-3 tankers carrying propylene. Oil shipments account for 2,700-3,000 tons. In many ways, the volume of shipments in this area will depend on the demand for the specified products on the European market," Babayev said.

The immediate plans include the construction of plants for the production of high density polypropylene and polyethylene with a capacity of 200,000 and 100,000 tons per year respectively. SOCAR in 2012 signed a contract to build plants at the Sumqayit Chemical Technology Park. SOCAR Polymer was created for this project. The active phase of the construction of these facilities will begin in 2014.

Products of high density polypropylene and polyethylene plants are widely used in such fields as agriculture, medicine, chemical and engineering industries, construction, electrical engineering, electronics, household goods, etc. The launch of this project and production will stimulate and create conditions for the creation of new production areas on the basis of the Sumqayit chemical park.

An important new project in terms of ensuring food security in the country is the building of a carbamide plant in Sumqayit. In this project, the general contractor for the building of the plant - Samsung Engineering is preparing the project documentation in cooperation with the selected licensors for the production of ammonia and carbamide. In parallel with this, work is continuing to prepare the territory allocated for the construction of the plant.

"The construction of the plant is expected to be completed in 2016, and we anticipate that approximately 40-45% of the plant's products will be sold on the domestic market, which will fully meet the demand for nitrogen fertilizers in the country. The rest of the products, around 400,000 tons per year, will be exported," Babayev said.

The next stage in the development of the chemical industry will be the construction of a SOCAR petrochemical complex in Qaradag district. The complex will include gas processing, oil refining and petrochemical plants. Also, to ensure the autonomous operation of the plants it is planned to build a stand-alone power unit.

Apart from oil, the complex will produce about 1.7 million tons of export-oriented petrochemicals a year. It is planned that 85-90 % of the total volume of polyethylene (up to 880,000 tons per year), polypropylene (up to 780,000 tons per year) and butadiene (up to 80,000 tons per year ) products to be made at the petrochemical plant will be exported to Turkish, European and Asian markets.

With the completion of this complex in 2020-2021, the former glory of Azerbaijan as a manufacturer of chemical products will be restored, while advanced technologies will help avoid problems with the contamination of the environment.

But the main goal of all these activities is to ensure the production not only of chemical raw materials in the country, but also of finished products, which will meet the needs of the domestic market in Azerbaijan and increase the export of industrial products.