Company News

Borealis ups Finnish PE capacity

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The upgrade also includes a new ethylene compressor as well as an upgrade of the monomer purification, with completion in 2012. The new turbo compressor will require less maintenance and the new equipment will contribute to improving the operational reliability of the plant, says the company.

The Porvoo PE2 plant is used as Borealis' full scale demonstration unit for the upscaling of new Borstar PE technology and introduction of new products. The new ethylene purification train will have an important role in this process as it helps to avoid impurities via the ethylene feed into the process, improving both reliability during the production process and quality of the final products.

The facility is the northernmost location within the Borealis group and employs around 900 employees. The site is a fully integrated petrochemical complex comprising a 600,000 tonnes/year cracker for the production of olefins (ethylene, propylene and butadiene), a phenol and aromatics plant, two plants for PE and one for PP. The total polyolefins production capacity amounts to 610,000 tonnes/year.

Around 70% of Borealis' production in Finland is exported and mainly used to produce pipes, extrusion coating for steel pipes and packaging, as well as wire and cable jacketing.