ECI Group’s first deployment of its proprietary Hybrid Autoclave Reactor Expansion has successfully passed its performance tests and associated guarantees in record time. The plant in Zhejiang province, China had an original nameplate capacity of 72,000 metric tonnes per year of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) based on Versalis® autoclave reactor technology. Following the installation of the ECI Hybrid Reactor and associated debottlenecking and upgrades designed and delivered by ECI Group working in cooperation with Versalis, the plant has an increased nameplate capacity of 100,000 metric tonnes per year and produces the full range of EVA products while maintaining or improving product properties and quality. 

ECI Group has been working with the client on this project from the outset, starting with the initial Feasibility Study, before moving forward to provide the technology license, FEED and Detailed Design, including Procurement support for the critical equipment items. Despite facing challenges due to ongoing quarantine and travel restrictions in China, ECI was able to dispatch a team of Subject Matter Experts to be resident at site for the key phases of training, pre-startup safety reviews, commissioning, start-up and successful completion of the performance tests. 

Joaquin Flores, President and CEO of ECI Group, said “The successful acceptance of the upgraded plant is a significant milestone marking ECI’s first commercial installation of our Hybrid Reactor technology. It proves the benefits of ECI’s hybrid reactor configuration in expanding production capacity while maintaining the full grade slate and product quality properties for both homopolymer and copolymer grades. The project also demonstrates the strength of ECI’s integrated offerings in high-pressure technology and engineering expertise to new-build and existing operators alike”.