Siemens receives order for compressor train for PTA plant in Saudi Arabia

Siemens Energy has received an order for the supply of a new compressor train for expansion of the Ibn Rushd PTA (purified terephthalic acid) plant in Saudi Arabia. Purchaser is Taiwan's CTCI Corporation, the largest engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company in Taiwan. End customer is the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), one of the world's leading producers of chemicals, fertilizers, plastics and metals.

The compressor train will be delivered in May 2012 to the plant in Yanbu' al Bahr, a major Red Sea port in Saudi Arabia. In addition, Siemens will also modernize the plant's existing PTA compressor train.

"The excellent performance of the existing train paved the way for this order," said Ralf Kannefass, head of the Turbo Equipment business segment in the Siemens Energy Oil and Gas Division. "With this follow-up order for a PTA compressor train and modernization of the existing train SABIC can extend and revamp its PTA production capacities." The new compressor train consists of a gear-type air compressor, an expander, a steam turbine and a motor with auxiliaries and control systems. The equipment is designed for the production of 350,000 tpa of PTA, which represents a duplication of the currently installed capacity at the Yanbu site. PTA is a white granulate. It is mainly used for polyester yarn for clothing, but is also used in tire cord and as a resin in plastic (PET) bottle molding.