Selas Fluid awarded contract by BASF FINA for a cracking furnace with flexibility for ethane, naphtha and LPG feedstock

20-Jan-12

Selas Fluid, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Linde Group’s Engineering Division, has been awarded a contract by BASF FINA Petrochemicals LP for a cracking furnace with flexibility for ethane, naphtha and LPG feedstock. The furnace will be installed at BASF FINA’s steam cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, as an addition to one of the largest single train cracking units in the world. BASF FINA Petrochemicals LP is a joint venture between BASF Corporation and Total Petrochemicals USA. Selas Fluid’s scope includes engineering, procurement, and construction of the new furnace and integration of this furnace into the existing plant. “With our long history and extensive experience with the design and supply of ethylene cracking furnaces, we are ready to meet the challenges of this project, and are pleased to have won the confidence of BASF FINA,” said Paul van Helmond, Product Manager for Ethylene Furnaces at Selas Fluid. “Our timing is good; with falling feedstock prices, the ethylene industry in North America is poised for a boom period in the next few years. Many North American olefins producers are in advanced stages of expansion planning,” said Bruce Hensinger, President and CEO of Selas Fluid. “Selas Fluid has grown its EPC capabilities over the last few years and we are ready to execute LSTK furnace projects both in our ‘back yard’ and worldwide.”