Honeywell supports coal-to-plastics technology
Published by Angharad Lock,
Digital Assistant Editor
Hydrocarbon Engineering,
Honeywell announced that its Honeywell UOP business broke ground on a new manufacturing capacity outside Shanghai to produce materials used to convert methanol from coal into feedstocks for making plastics, a significant milestone to enable China to meet the growing demand for plastics.
When it enters production in 2017, the catalyst production line in Zhangjiagang City in Jiangsu Province will produce catalysts used in Honeywell UOP’s Advanced Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process technology.
Honeywell UOP manufactured the MTO process to convert methanol into the olefins ethylene and propylene that are the primary chemicals used to make plastics. The heart of the MTO process is a proprietary catalyst that facilitates the conversion of methanol into olefins.
“MTO is an innovative, proven technology that enables countries such as China that are rich in coal, but which have had to import petroleum, to make plastics,” said Rajeev Gautam, president and CEO of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies business group. “Honeywell UOP has licensed eight MTO units in China in just the last three years, and this new facility will allow us for the first time to fully manufacture MTO catalysts in China for our Chinese customers.”
While world demand for ethylene and propylene is growing by approximately 4% to 5% per year, China is expected to invest more than US$100 billion in coal-to-chemicals technology by 2020.
“The Zhangjiagang facility makes it possible for Chinese manufacturers to meet the growing demand for petrochemicals with Honeywell UOP technology,” said Rebecca Liebert, President and CEO of Honeywell UOP. “In addition, the operations use local raw materials, supporting economic development in Jiangsu Province, and incorporate zero-discharge wastewater treatment.”
Honeywell’s facility in Zhangjiagang opened in 2015. It produces other types of catalysts that are used in Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex™ process, which converts propane into propylene, and in continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) Platforming™, which is used to produce high-octane gasoline. Over the past five years, Honeywell UOP has licensed its Oleflex technology to 30 producers globally, including 23 in China.
The Zhangjiagang facility is located in a modern industrial park about 85 miles northwest of Shanghai.
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/24052016/honeywell-supports-coal-to-plastics-technology-2530/
You might also like
Low US distillate consumption reflects slow economic activity and biofuel substitution
The EIA reports that US distillate consumption so far this year is lower than usual because of warm winter weather, reduced manufacturing activity, and continued substitution of biofuels in place of petroleum distillate on the US West Coast (PADD 5).
