ExxonMobil Chemical completed testing to confirm the 50,000 metric tons per year capacity for its new metallocene polyalphaolefin synthetic lubricant base stock plant in Baytown, Texas.
Product testing and qualification are complete, Damon Davis, ExxonMobil Chemicals vice president of global synthetic fluids and lubricant base stocks business, said in a news release issued Monday, adding that the company is now shipping the mPAO from the Baytown plant to customers. SpectraSyn Elite mPAO base stocks use a proprietary metallocene catalyst process, and offer higher viscosity index, improved shear stability and enhanced low-temperature properties, the company claims.
The company announced the opening of the Baytown plant in late March 2014, and the plant began production in the summer.
We began supplying product directly from the Elite plant to customers in the third quarter of this year but delayed the media update until we could complete our capacity test, Skip Thomas, ExxonMobil Chemicals global market segment manager for synthetics, told Lube Report. We think it is important for the public to know that the 50,000 tons [per year] capacity has been confirmed.
Albemarle Corp. had been making 15,000 tons per year of high-viscosity mPAO in Pasadena, Texas, under contract to and for the use of ExxonMobil. The feedstock, catalyst and processes used in Pasadena are all ExxonMobil technology.
Now that we have demonstrated the full capability of the plant, we have no plans to take advantage of the 15,000 tons of Albemarle capacity used prior to the startup of our Baytown plant, Thomas said.
ExxonMobil Chemical also said its expansion project at its chemical plant in Baton Rouge, La., will increase its worldwide capacity of synthetic esters and alkylated naphthalene by more than 25 percent to meet demand for high-performance lubricants made with the products. Construction is under way, and startup of the new facility is expected in 2015.
Its Esterex esters add enhanced lubricating properties, along with low volatility and good solubility, to engine and industrial lubricant applications, according to the company. Synesstic alkylated naphthalene base stocks are base fluids and blend stocks for lubricants in automotive and industrial applications. Lubricants formulated with the base stocks can be more stable and higher performing, according to ExxonMobil Chemical.