QAFAC Signs Contract for Construction of Carbon Dioxide Recovery and Injection Unit

Doha, March 17 (QNA) - Board Chairman of Qatar Fuel Additives Company (QAFAC) Hamad Rashid Al-Muhannadi and Vice President of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Company Naohito Hoshino today signed a contract for the construction of a unit for the recovery and injection of carbon dioxide to increase the Company's production capacity of methanol by about 250 tonnes. The signing ceremony was attended by QAFAC General Manager and Board Member Nasser Al-Kuwari and a large number of department managers. The aim of the new project is to capture carbon dioxide from waste gases emitting from the combustion process resulting from the manufacture of methanol after the separation of carbon dioxide which is used as a feedstock for increasing the production of methanol. In its first contract with QAFAC, a Mitsubishi subsidiary company, which has already received a license from the World Health Organization (WHO) to build the unit, will carry out procurement and construction work while Mitsubishi will be in charge of all business dealings. In a speech on the occasion Al Muhannadi said the about USD 80 Million project is aimed at improving the operational environment of the plant and improve the production capacity, adding that QAFAC began a continuous phase of environmental improvements. He said one of the challenges faced by the industry in general is how to reduce greenhouse effect and gas emissions. QAFAC has deep conviction in the advantages of giving care for environment, Al-Muhannadi said adding that a step in that direction will be the establishment of the project, through which the company plans to capture and restore 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day and greenhouse gases that will be injected into the methanol plant. He explained that when the project is completed, the plant will be one of the largest capture carbon dioxide plants in the world and the first to recover carbon dioxide and which aims at increasing the production of methanol. Al-Muhannadi stressed that QAFAC will press ahead with the implementation of environmental policies in all its current and future projects and through this environmental project it will be at the forefront of international companies that are reducing carbon dioxide in all production lines, and looks forward to play a leading role in the protection of the environment, while continuing to implement local policies and international standards in this area. He pointed out that among the invaluable benefits of this agreement is that a number of Qatari students in the development sector will be working side by side with the contractors in Qatar and Singapore "and that will give them experience and additional skills in the area of specialization''.(QNA)