Advanced Refining Technologies (ART), the catalyst joint venture of chemical producers W.R. Grace and Chevron Products Company, has announced plans to spend around $135 million on hydroprocessing catalyst plant and additional alumina facility in the US state of Louisiana.

Production is set to begin in 2018 at an existing Grace site in Lake Charles.

The jv cites "an ever-increasing global push for bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading," which it said is leading to a "significant increase in investment by refiners for fixed bed resid hydrotreating and ebullating bed resid hydrocracking process technologies."

The new plant is designed to meet the increased catalyst requirements for new units that are licensed or already under construction.

"This will be a world-class, world-scale catalysts plant that is responding to strong global demand for ART's industry-leading products for residue upgrading, capitalizing on the success of our licensing partner, Chevron Lummus Global," said Grace CEO Fred Festa.

"We are pleased that this investment with Grace will keep ART and Chevron at the forefront of hydroprocessing catalysis and technology," said Mike Wirth, Chevron's executive vice president, Downstream and Chemicals.

Grace's Lake Charles site, home to what is claimed to be one of the world's largest refining catalysts plants and supplying global customers, represents a significant portion of Grace's refining catalyst manufacturing capacity. The 120-acre site consists of four major operations producing fluid cracking catalysts, hydroprocessing catalysts and other intermediates.

In the past six years, Grace said it has invested more than $100 million at Lake Charles. New facilities include an expansion to enable increased production of specialty aluminas, a key raw material in fluid cracking and hydroprocessing catalysts, along with a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant.