MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced today that Shandong Binhua New Material Co., Ltd. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology to produce 600,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene for a proposed plant in China, as per the company's press release.
Honeywell UOP, a leading technology provider for the oil and gas industry, will provide services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the Shandong plant. The project marks the 25th award for C3 Oleflex technology in China, which has seen exponential growth and demand for propylene, a key plastics ingredient.
Since 2011, most dehydrogenation projects globally have been based on UOP technology, including projects for propane (C3), isobutane (iC4) and mixed C3/ iC4 service. Global production capacity of propylene from Oleflex technology currently stands at approximately 7.8 million metric tons per year.
"The increasing consumption of plastics globally has generated substantial demand for propylene," said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager, Honeywell UOP’s Petrochemicals and Refining Technologies. "Our Oleflex technology will help Shandong Binhua, a regional leader in propylene oxide production, meet the demand for propylene derivatives in China by creating a consistent supply of on-purpose propylene."
Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment compared to competing dehydrogenation technologies. Oleflex’s low-energy consumption, low-emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system also helps minimize impact on the environment. The independent reactor and regeneration design helps maximize operating flexibility and onstream reliability.
Shandong Binhua New Material Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Befar Group Co., Ltd. Located in Binzhou in Shandong Province, Befar has more than 50 years of experience in caustic soda and propylene oxide production, and is one of China’s most influential oil additive suppliers.
As MRC informed earlier, in September 2019, Honeywell announced that Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co., Ltd. is using Honeywell UOP’s C3 OleflexTM technology to produce 450 000 tpy of polymer-grade propylene for a new petrochemicals complex in China. This is the second C3 Oleflex unit now operating with Satellite. Honeywell UOP delivered Satellite’s first Oleflex unit in 2014.
Propylene is the main feedstock for producing polyprolypele (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.
Honeywell UOP is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions, a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, chemical and other industries.
MRC