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MOSCOW (MRC) -- MOL
has opened a new polyol research and development center, named after Gyorgy
Mosonyi, the late CEO of MOL, in Szazhalombatta, Hungary to develop polyol
products that meet the needs of customers. The experimental reactor system,
which is the most modern in the world, was supplied and commissioned by
thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions. 90% of the other assets in the project were
procured from Hungarian suppliers. In addition, MOL and thyssenkrupp have
entered into a joint research and development agreement.
MOL Group's 2030 strategy sets the goal of increasing the share of
contribution of the petrochemical business to the results of the entire group.
The EUR 1.2 billion investment in the polyol complex in Tiszaujvaros serves to
achieve this. To underpin this investment and ensure that the plant meets the
needs of the markets it serves, MOL established the research and development
center at the Danube Refinery. The EUR 10 million investment center will fund up
to 12 engineers and 7 technicians and the most advanced experimental reactor
system in the world, supplied and commissioned by thyssenkrupp Industrial
Solutions with 90% of equipment procured from Hungarian suppliers.
MOL and thyssenkrupp have also entered into a joint research and development
agreement to facilitate the entry of both companies into the polyol market:
thyssenkrupp as a technology service provider and
engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) contractor, and MOL as a manufacturer
and seller of various polyol products.
Gabriel Szabo, EVP of MOL Group Downstream, said: "The research and
development center bears the name of Gyorgy Mosonyi, the late CEO of MOL, who
was deeply committed to innovation throughout his work, so this a worthy tribute
to his memory. It is a state-of-the-art laboratory, equipped with all the
necessary tools, instruments and most importantly it has great experts who will
ensure that the R&D activities can serve the development of market-ready
products, to be later produced by the polyol plant in Tiszaujvaros. Centre is
outstanding not only for MOL, but as the most advanced polyol research center in
Central and Eastern Europe it has national significance and we hope that the
scientific results of it will be of high value internationally as well."
"With our agreement on joint research and development, this R&D center is
a big step forward to explore and win the new markets MOL is addressing with the
polyols. We are excited for this new chapter in our joint journey and confident
that this partnership will be an important success factor on our path to develop
advanced and sustainable technology and products for a better future," Sami
Pelkonen, CEO of thyssenkrupp's Chemical & Process Technologies business
unit added.
The research and development center will conduct tests of the physicochemical
properties of polyols, as well as laboratory tests and application experiments
of polyurethane foams made from them. By July 2022, at least 10 polyol grades
will be developed in the newly built facility. In order to compare and validate
the results of the measurements, the company also plans to cooperate with the
laboratories of several Hungarian universities and independent research
institutions. These collaborations will help to further develop the
methodologies used in the polyol R&D center and increase the knowledge base
of universities. As well as to the MOL Group, the center will offer outstanding
value to the Hungarian and international scientific community for years to
come.
MOL's project "Research and Development of Polyether Polyol Grades with
Market Potential", which is supported by the National Office for Research,
Development and Innovation with HUF 483,269,279, will also take place primarily
in the newly opened research center.
As MRC informed before,
MOL Petrochemicals Company (formerly known as TVK, part of the MOL Group), the
only Hungarian producer of olefins and polyolefins, announced force majeure on
the supply of polypropylene (PP) from plant No. 4 at the petrochemical complex
in Tiszaujvaros (Tiszaujvaros, Hungary) on 23 September 2019.
We remind that in
November 2019, Total disclosed that itis evaluating construction of a new gas
cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha
Chemical.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing
polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine
months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE)
shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market
reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula:
production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1
January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MOL
Group is an integrated, international oil and gas company with its headquarters
in Budapest, with an international and dynamic workforce of 25,000 in more than
30 countries and an industrial history of more than 100 years. MOL's exploration
and production activities are supported by more than 80 years of experience in
the hydrocarbon industry. It currently has extraction activities in 9 countries
and has research assets in 14 countries. MOL Group operates three refineries and
two petrochemical plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary,
Slovakia and Croatia, and its retail network includes 1,940 filling stations in
10 countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe.
thyssenkrupp Industrial
Solutions AG is a leading partner for the engineering, construction and service
of industrial plants and systems. Based on more than 200 years of experience we
supply tailored, turnkey plants and components for customers in the chemical,
fertilizer, cement, mining and steel industries. Around 11,500 employees
worldwide form a global network with a technology portfolio that guarantees
productivity and cost-efficiency to the highest extent possible. |
