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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex™ technology has been selected by Sonatrach Entreprise Polymères (STEP) to produce 565,000 mtpa of polymer-grade propylene for a proposed plant in Arzew, Algeria. In addition to technology licensing, Honeywell is providing the basic engineering design as well as services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the plant.
Once the plant is completed it will represent UOP’s second C3 Oleflex unit in North Africa, following an earlier award in Egypt.
Last year, Honeywell announced that Sonatrach will use technologies from Honeywell UOP to produce cleaner-burning transportation fuels at its Skikda Refinery on the eastern Mediterranean coast of Algeria. UOP also announced that Sonatrach will use UOP technologies, including C4 Oleflex, at its Arzew facility to produce 200,000 metric tons per year of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a high-octane gasoline additive that reduces emissions in automobile exhaust
“The Oleflex technology will enable STEP to convert domestically produced propane into propylene, which is the primary component in a wide variety of plastic products that are rapidly growing in demand in the region,” said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Petrochemicals & Refining Technologies business. “STEP will further convert the propylene into polypropylene plastic to supply customers in Algeria, as well as along the Mediterranean, and in other markets such as Europe.”
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. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system helps minimize its impact on the environment. The independent reactor and regeneration design of the Oleflex technology helps maximize operating flexibility and onstream reliability.
Sonatrach Total Entreprise Polymères (STEP) is a joint venture between Algeria’s State Oil Company Sonatrach S.p.A. (51%) and France’s Total S.A. (49%). The STEP joint venture was created in 2018 to carry out the joint petrochemical project in Arzew.
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