🏭 Not your typical E&P

Good morning. Both of today's stories have to do with exploration & production, but not E&P for oil & gas. Everything comes from the ground one way or another (except for the stuff we find in the air).

From the condenser:

· Helium drilling in Canada

· Titanium dioxide starts in Florida

· MOTD: benzene

Drilling for helium up in Canada

Calgary-based helium E&P company, North American Helium, announced that its third production site, located in southwest Saskatchewan, started-up with no operational issues.

Helium 101:

After it's produced (by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium deep underground), helium starts its escape to space. Some of that helium gets stuck in rocks (sort of like natural gas) along the way. That's actually why most of the world's helium is a by-product of natural gas production—we find it in the same reservoirs that hold natural gas. Some natural gas processors, like Linde, go out of their way separate helium from the mix so that we can use it for things like cryogenics (MRI machines and semiconductors), welding, and purging (removing liquid fuels from rockets).

So, what's going on here?

North American Helium is drilling deep below this area in Saskatchewan and finding a gaseous mixture containing up to 2% helium (the rest is mostly nitrogen). The company then purifies that helium by ridding the gas of that nitrogen.

Bigger picture:

This is the third site North American Helium has started up since their first in July 2020. It's a welcome development since the world has been short on helium for well over a decade now (this C&EN article sums it up well). Plus, for anyone who cares about sustainability, helium that is produced all by itself (like this) is far less energy intensive than helium that is produced as a by-product of natural gas.

Securing titanium production in Florida

US-based chemical company, Chemours, has started commissioning its new titanium and zirconium mining operation in Clay County, Florida.

A little background:

When DuPont spun-off its fluoroproducts businesses (think refrigerants, blowing agents, Teflon, etc.) back in 2015, the company also tossed in some mining assets. That mostly consisted of sodium cyanide production (used to leach gold from ore) and titanium dioxide production (which is mostly used to make white pigments and metal alloys). Chemours divested that sodium cyanide business back in July 2021, but still operates (and even invests) in its titanium business.

Okay, so a new mining operation?

Chemours broke ground on this $93 million site about a year ago. The Clay County area is rich in sand that contains rutile, a mineral with high quantities of titanium. Chemours then converts that rutile into high purity titanium dioxide by mixing it up with coke, heating it in the presence of chlorine, and then burning some of the condensed product with oxygen (more details here).

Zooming out:

Since demand for titanium dioxide mostly tracks the demand for pigments, and pigments are used in basically everything, it's unlikely that demand from a single industry is what makes this new mining operation appealing. Perhaps it has something to do with titanium being listed as one of the US's critical minerals? Someone has to ensure that supply—and Chemours and Huntsman are the only US-based capable of doing so.

Some more headlines:

• Wood landed two big contracts for new projects in Uzbekistan

• Merck bought a Korean company's semiconductor chemical precursor business

• ICIS is reporting that chemical producers are still dealing with supply chain problems

• This new process seems to hold some potential for breaking down PFAS

• Koch Fertilizer is planning a $30 million UAN expansion

Molecule of The Day:

Today's MOTD needs no introduction, it's benzene.

First isolated in 1825 by Michael Faraday, nature's hexagon got its name from the hardened tree sap that was used to make the molecule. Benzene is a critical intermediate chemical with extremely toxic properties—which is why you don't microwave styrofoam and why we don't use it to decaffinate coffee anymore.

Today, the world produces something like 60 million tons of benzene each year. Global benzene production is more complex than most chemicals because most of it is produced as a co-product (so supply is based on the demand for other hydrocarbons). Initially, the molecule was produced strictly by the destructive distillation of coal, but today its made by catalytic reforming, toluene hydrodealkylation, or bysteam cracking (which produces pygas).

That benzene is used primarily to make styrene (50%), cumene (20%), cyclohexane (15%), and aniline (10%). Here's a percentage breakdown and here's a flow chart of its main derivatives. The main companies producing all this benzene are BASF, CP Chem, and the other usual suspects.

In case you're interested:

• Learn: The Column gets its name from the separation unit processes. Check out this course to learn why mass transfer operations are the core of the industry.*

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• Safety Moment: Proper documentation for chemicals within the workplace is critical—familiarize yourself with these standards for proper hazard identification from OSHA.

• Podcast: Check out this episode featuring Dr. Anders Hallsby on water treatment technologies and trends.

The bottoms:

All views represent those of the author not their employer.