By Ventures Africa
General Electric Company (GE) has signed a $500 million agreement with Egyptian private Carbon Holdings to provide construction support for world largest liquid cracker.
Fluid cracking is one of the most important conversion processes used in petroleum refineries, mostly for converting high-boiling, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils to more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and other products.
The plant will hold an annual production capacity of 1,360,000 tonnes of odourless gas, Ethylene and Polyethylene – a common plastic used majorly for packaging. It will also produce significant quantities of Propylene, Benzene, Butadiene and Linear Alpha Olefins, Reuters reported.
El-baz, CEO of Carbon Holdings, an oil-sector-focused industrial developer, noted that the project – Naptha Cracker Project – is part of the $4.8 billion Tahrir petrochemical complex, with construction expected to begin in 2014.
The project has a time-frame of 50 months.
GE’s Vice Chairman, John Rice, said GE is keen on greater partnerships with Egyptian companies, adding that its commitment to Egypt “cuts across all of our businesses”.
Both companies will provide technological facilities including advanced aero-derivates gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, water filtration and desalination equipment, turbo machinery compressors, as well as equity support during the construction period.