Namin Petrochemical Operational After Meeting Standards

The executive operations of Namin Petrochemical Complex in Namin County, Ardabil Province, is almost complete, but its launch will depend on meeting environmental standards, the director general of the provincial office of the Department of Environment said.

“The installation of filtration systems, treatment plants, online monitoring and sufficient green space are environmental protection conditions defined for the complex and we will not issue the license for its operation until it completes these measures,” Hassan Qasempour was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

An undertaking of ARTA Industrial Group in the northwestern province, the Namin Petrochemical plant will annually produce 132,000 tons of methanol and 283,000 tons of formaldehyde, alongside other petrochemical products.

Methanol is a chemical composition that is available in light, volatile, colorless and flammable fluid form. In petrochemical industry, it is provided from the natural gas.

It is used as antifreeze, solvent, fuel and as a denaturant for ethanol. The chemical is also used to produce biodiesel via transesterification reaction.

Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring organic compound. It is a colorless, strong-smelling gas used in making building materials and many household products. It is used in pressed-wood products, such as particleboard, plywood and fiberboard; glues and adhesives; permanent-press fabrics; paper product coatings; and certain insulation materials.

To increase methanol output, a number of projects are underway in Iran to help complete the value chain of the chemical.

According to published reports, up until 2007, methanol was used only as a chemical. But completion of its value chain gained momentum after methanol-to-olefin and methanol-to-propylene projects were accelerated and increased profit margins.

Production & export of methanol in Namin Petrochemical

With the recent launch of petrochemical complexes, Iran now produces 13 million tons of methanol a year, accounting for 5% of the world’s total methanol production with exports to Iraq, China, the UAE, India and South Korea. Namin Petrochemical can add 132,000 tons of methanol to the production cycle annually.

The availability of relatively cheap feedstock, as well as demand from Asia, has contributed to robust growth of the domestic methanol industry in the past decade.

The methanol industry has experienced an explosive growth, primarily in China and the United States, owing to significant developments in shale gas.

The global methanol market is expected to grow at a significant rate in the coming years, driven mainly by the increasing use of methanol (in the form of fuel and antifreeze agent) in the auto industry. The methanol industry has experienced an explosive growth, primarily in China and the United States, owing to significant developments in shale gas.

The petrochemical industry has improved tremendously in the past four decades in Iran and its capacity has risen from 1.5 million tons a year to 93 million tons per year.

The production capacity of petrochemical industry is planned to increase to 140 million tons in the coming years.

Iran now has 30% of the installed capacity of the Middle East and about 3% of the capacity of the world’s major products. With the help of the ongoing and future plans, the country is trying to increase these capacities and play a more important role in the global petrochemical industry.

Publish: May 1, 2023

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