UOP and Total Petrochemicals successfully demonstrate technology to produce plastics from non-oil feedstocks
UOP LLC, a Honeywell International Inc company, announced on 6 Jul 2010 that Total Petrochemicals has demonstrated UOP technology that will enable the use of feedstocks other than petroleum to produce plastics and other petrochemicals. A demonstration unit built by Total Petrochemicals at its complex in Feluy, Belgium, used UOP/Hydro MTO methanol-to-olefins technology to convert methanol to ethylene and propylene. The propylene was then converted to polypropylene product. This demonstration proves that propylene produced from methanol at a semi-commercial scale is suitable for plastics production. The demonstration unit has run consistently for more than 150 days since its start-up in 2009 and has met product yield expectations. The unit has processed up to 10 tonne/day of methanol to produce the light olefins ethylene and propylene, which are basic building blocks for many petrochemicals, including plastics. The demonstration plant integrates MTO process technology with the Total Petrochemicals/UOP Olefin Cracking Process (OCP). Use of the Olefin Cracking Process, jointly developed by Total Petrochemicals and UOP, will boost the total yield of usable ethylene and propylene while minimizing hydrocarbon byproducts. The OCP unit is scheduled to start up in late 2010 after initial testing of the MTO unit is completed. The demonstration plant was designed to assess, on a semi-commercial industrial scale, the technical feasibility of the integrated MTO and OCP processes with full product recovery and purification.