US-based process licensor GTC Technology has signed an agreement with Russia’s Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK) to modernize a benzene facility at Nizhnekamsk in the republic of Tatarstan. The benzene plant is part of NKNK’s EP-600 cracker at the site. GTC Technology will supply a basic engineering package, technical services, proprietary catalyst, solvent and equipment. Start-up is planned for 2017. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

The new GT-BTX unit will process a full range of C6-C8 cut after the first-stage pygas hydrotreating unit, allowing NKNK to lower the cash cost of producing high-purity benzene; it will also recover non-aromatics to be used as cracker feed. The Houston, Texas-headquartered engineering company will also revamp the existing second-stage pygas hydrotreater to process 30% more feed as well as designing a new GT-BTX unit with post-fractionation.

Ilya Aranovich, GTC’s licensing manager, said the project would extend its track record of improving the economics of naphtha-based crackers for clients in the CIS region and around the world. NKNK, part of the TAIF Group, is one of Europe’s largest petrochemical companies and a leading producer of synthetic rubbers and plastics in Russia.