Borouge showcases locally-made petrochemical innovations

Dubai / Emirates Business

Demonstrating its unique abilities to add value throughout the value chain, Borouge, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austria based Borealis, is showcasing its unique-to-the-world polyolefin solutions to thousands of visitors and industry experts at the ArabPlast 2017 regional tradeshow, currently taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre (January 8 – 10). One such solution on display, is the company’s one-of-a-kind infrastructure pipe solution, the BorSafe HE3490-LS PE100 that was selected to produce Class 3 safety-related piping for the UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant project.
Borouge designed and manufactured the special plastic piping grade and optimised it for use in safety critical environments. The BorSafe was chosen for use in such a sensitive industry due to its core properties of strength and flexibility, making it the only PE100 material in the globe to be certified for use in nuclear applications.
The Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, which is being built by the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), is set to bring clean, sustainable energy to the UAE to complement the country’s rich natural resources. When completed, the plant will be able to supply power to meet approximately 25% of the UAE’s energy needs, reducing yearly greenhouse gas emissions by up to 12 million tonnes a year.
“Innovation has always been at the forefront of our operations,” said Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi, Senior VP Middle East Africa and Exports at Borouge. “Together with our partners, our products have a long history of providing high quality and durable infrastructure solutions with up to 100 years’ lifetime. Borouge’s infrastructure portfolio covers drinking water distribution networks, natural gas transportation, plumbing systems and industrial applications and the products are now the reference products across the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.”
Regarded as critical infrastructures, nuclear energy plants require a stable and uninterrupted cooling water system as a vital part of their safety features. With the key purpose of ensuring the stability of its reactors, a plant’s cooling water is supplied to the facility via open channels, while the hot seawater discharge is expelled through large diameter pipes. The most commonly used materials for safety related piping has traditionally been asbestos cement or steel. However, this is changing in the wake of concerns over the failures of traditional pipes as a result of fouling and corrosion attacks, leading plant operators to look toward alternatives such as high density polyethylene (HDPE) because of the material’s durability and ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions and events.
“Using of one of Borouge’s innovative PE100 solutions in such a safety critical and sensitive sector is a testament to our commitment to innovation and our solutions’ ability to open new opportunities across the value chain,” added Al Suwaidi.
Produced using the unique Borstar bimodal technology platform developed by Borealis at the Borouge plant in Ruwais, BorSafe HE3490-LS PE100 is a corrosion-free, chemical resistant HDPE pressure pipe compound with exceptional flexibility and strength to safeguard against major earth movements such as earthquakes, high impact, abrasion and stress cracking, even under low temperatures.