Hanwha Total to shut reformer

OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2015. South Korean petrochemical producer Hanwha Total is planning to take off line its No.2 aromatics unit at Daesan for a planned turnaround from next week.

The unit, producing 1mn t/yr of paraxylene (PX) and 450,000 t/yr of benzene, is due to be shut for about two weeks.

Hanwha Total also operates a No.1 reformer at Daesan that produces 700,000 t/yr of PX and 500,000 t/yr of benzene. It also has a naphtha-based cracker at the same location that can produce around 270,000 t/yr of benzene.

Around 900,000 t/yr of Hanwha Total's total benzene production is for its downstream styrene monomer (SM) plants, with it producing about 1mn t/yr of SM at Daesan.