This pipeline is 1,200 kilometers long and runs from the port city of Asalouyeh off the Persian Gulf in the south to the northwest. It will supply ethylene as feedstock to 12 petrochemical factories along the way. The northernmost plant on the pipeline route that was supplied before the Tabriz unit was Miandoab Petrochemical Company in West Azarbaijan Province, according to Financial Tribune.
With completion of the 165-km pipeline to carry ethylene from Miandoab company to Tabriz Petrochemical Plant in East Azarbaijan Province, the pipeline has reached its final destination so far (Tabriz is 165 km north of Miandoab), the Oil Ministry news agency Shana reported.
The 10-inch (diameter) Miandoab-Tabriz pipeline cost $6.2 million and has a capacity to transfer 10 tons of ethylene per hour.
It will help Tabriz Petrochemical Company increase annual output from the current 440,000 tons to 1.2 million tons in three years.
Ethylene is a petrochemical-derived monomer that is used in countless products including fibers and plastics and is a useful addition in making organic chemicals.
The new pipeline has annual capacity of 3.5 million tons of ethylene, 2.5 million tons of which comes from the major South Pars Gas Field and the rest from Gachsaran field in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province.
Iran’s annual output of ethylene is about 7.3 million tons. With global output near 185 million tons in 2018, ethylene is the most commercially produced gaseous compound.
A projection of the global production capacity of ethylene indicates the global production could around 290 million tons within ten years.
Naphtha Storage
The fourth naphtha storage tank of Tabriz Petrochemical Complex was also launched on Thursday.
Light and heavy naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and mineral oil is the main feedstock of the complex. A major portion of the feedstock comes from Tabriz Refinery.
Construction of the fourth tank, with a capacity of storing 16,000 cubic meters of naphtha, took 23 months and cost more than $1.3 million.
Tabriz Petrochemical Company products include raw polymers, polyethylene, polystyrene and various grades of a thermoplastic polymer known as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS.
Iran’s petrochemical facilities are concentrated in Asalouyeh and Mahshahr in the south. However, in the past few decades new petrochemical plants have come on stream, particularly across the western belt, as part of efforts to help lift local economies.
The domestic petrochemical sector has grown significantly and has implanted policies to complete the petrochemical value-added chain.
Petrochemical firms supply most of the domestic needs, thanks to the diversity of products. Export volumes are also significant.
According to published reports, Iran will invest $40 billion in the petrochemical sector to increase annual output to 133 million tons in five years from about 6 tons now.
It is forecast that the key sector next year will generate $25 billion and $37 billion annually by 2025.