Market Outlook & Challenges
Operators across upstream, midstream and downstream petrochemical segments are navigating a complex set of pressures as they balance production, efficiency, and compliance requirements. Tightening emissions and product quality standards, variable and circular feedstocks, and the need to decarbonize operations make early, well-founded decision critical.
Learn about Evonik's solutions for throughput and asset integrity, cleaner processing and water stewardship, gas processing and transition enablers, emission reduction and evolving regulatory standards, feedstock variability and product-quality demands in petrocemicals:
How can operators keep product flowing smoothly while protecting asset integrity?
Challenge
Maintaining flow under variable temperatures and compositions while avoiding deposition, gel-related blockages, and unplanned downtime.
Impact
Pressure drop, pigging frequency, equipment stress, reduced injection effectiveness, and lost barrels.
Solution principles
Outcome‑led cold‑flow and deposition‑control programs that keep products moving and protect asset integrity (e.g., dewaxing aids, tailored polymers), in addition to the use of persulfates in enhanced oil recovery to initiate polymer gel formation and later oxidatively break those gels to restore flow pathways.
How can operators treat produced water effectively without creating downstream complications?
Challenge
Produced‑water handling and microbial control without creating chlorinated by‑products, while managing iron and other oxidizable contaminants.
Impact
Permit risk, safety concerns, chemistry incompatibilities, treatment inefficiency, and buildup of oxidizable species that complicate downstream processing.
Solution principles
Rapid, oxidizing biocides that work at low temperatures and decompose into benign co‑products, combined with hydrogen peroxide as an additional oxidation chemistry for produced‑water environments, where it acts as a versatile oxidizer and becomes a more powerful oxidant when catalyzed with iron.
How can gas processors remove tough contaminants while maintaining uptime and efficiency?
Challenge
Selective removal of CO₂/CH₄, N₂, H₂S, H₂O and trace contaminants across NG/biogas duty while maintaining uptime.
Impact
Energy intensity, off‑spec gas, corrosion, and higher OPEX.
Solution principles
Robust hollow‑fiber membranes with complementary adsorbents and purification media for reliable, modular separations.
How can operators stay compliant with tighter emissions rules without eroding margins?
Challenge
Meeting methane, VOC, sulfur, and flare‑related targets while maintaining margins.
Impact
Compliance exposure, permitting delays, and reputational risk.
Solution principles
Energy‑efficient separations, emissions‑reducing oxidizers, durable materials, and documentable stewardship to support audits and approvals.
How can producers maintain catalyst health and product quality as feedstocks become more variable?
Challenge
Shifts from conventional naphtha/LPG to variable or recycled streams raise impurity loads, drive catalyst deactivation/fouling, and complicate cracking and separations.
Impact
Shorter run lengths, higher energy intensity, off‑grade polymers, VOC exposure, and turnaround pressure.
Solution principles
Up‑front purification and contaminant control, catalyst protection/guard beds, and stabilizers that support consistent polymer‑grade quality.
Sustainability & Compliance
Compliance is often business‑critical. Our materials are engineered not just for performance, but to help operators navigate permitting, emissions standards, and stewardship requirements — including methane/VOC controls, sulfur limits, and produced‑water management.
- Oxidizing biocides: rapid efficacy at low temperatures; avoid chlorinated by‑products; decompose into benign co‑products.
- Membrane gas separations: can reduce energy intensity versus certain thermal alternatives; compact, modular systems.
- Durable materials (e.g., PA12, PEEK): corrosion resistance that can lower replacement frequency and risk.
- Petrochemicals focus: VOC management, trace removal for polymer quality, and strategies for variable/circular feedstocks to stabilize operation and emissions.
Product Stories
Read about how Evonik helps keeping pyrolysis oil in flow: VISCOPLEX® pour-point depressants help improve the handling, storage, transportation, and processing of pyrolysis oils — stabilizing flow and enabling more efficient chemical recycling operations. See how tailored cold-flow chemistry supports circular feedstock logistics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Flow assurance refers to the strategies and chemistries used to keep hydrocarbons moving from reservoir to refinery by managing wax, asphaltenes, hydrates, and scale. Effective programs reduce pressure drop, prevent blockages, minimize pigging frequency, and protect asset integrity — ultimately improving throughput and operating margins.
Oxidizing biocides like peracetic acid provide rapid antimicrobial action, work at low temperatures, and avoid chlorinated by-products. They decompose into benign co-products, supporting environmental goals and compatibility with other chemistries used in fracturing or produced-water treatment.
Hollow-fiber membranes are well suited for natural gas upgrading, nitrogen generation, and biogas applications where compact systems, modularity, and selective separations are beneficial. Material robustness against pressure and temperature enables stable performance and simplified operation for many plants.
High-performance polymers such as PA12 and PEEK are used for components that must endure pressure, temperature, and aggressive media. Their corrosion resistance and mechanical stability support longer service life versus some conventional materials, on- and offshore.
Purification materials used to remove water, sulfur species, mercury, and other contaminants help stabilize downstream refining and petrochemical units by protecting sensitive equipment and improving process reliability. Regeneration and rejuvenation services can extend the life of catalysts, improving cost efficiency while reducing the environmental impact associated with full catalyst replacement. In addition, desulfurization and conversion catalysts play a key role in meeting sulfur‑content regulations in transportation fuels and in upgrading petrochemical intermediates into higher‑value products — supporting cleaner, more efficient downstream operations.
Catalysts can be affected by a range of impurities such as sulfur species, nitrogen compounds, metals, water, oxygenates and halogens, all of which can reduce activity, shorten run lengths or disrupt cracking and polymerization performance.
Effective purification helps remove trace contaminants that interfere with catalyst systems or cause color, stability or processing issues in downstream polymers, supporting more consistent, high‑quality product grades.
As feedstocks become more diverse — especially with recycled or circular streams — operators rely on upfront purification, contaminant control and stabilization strategies to protect catalysts, maintain throughput and ensure product consistency.