La Porte: Polypropylene Plant & Technology Center

TotalEnergies Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. (TPRI) operates one of the world's largest polypropylene plants in La Porte, Texas, which produces thermoplastic polymers in applications ranging from packaging and textiles to lab equipment and automotive parts. Originally acquired in 1984, La Porte has been expanded three times and now produces 1.2 million tons of polypropylene per year.

La Porte is an integrated plant, with a sizable percentage of its propylene coming from the Mont Belvieu splitter (TPRI 33%) and the BTP Port Arthur cracker (TPRI 40%, BASF 60%).

The La Porte Technology Center (LPTC) was consolidated at the La Porte site in 1988 in order to combine the expertise of three locations, create an environment of technical innovation and maximize synergies between various business lines. The main objective of the Technology Center is to support our industrial sites in the United States. The technical activities of the center spread over more than 30 laboratories with all the equipment and instrumentation needed to replicate and test plant and polymer conversion processes. 

For over 30 years, the LPTC has been a significant contributor of intellectual property at Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. Close to 300 patents in strategic areas, such as polymers, refining and base chemicals, have come from the Center.