Dow and Davy License LP OxoSM Technology to Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. in China
3 December 2012 – Davy Process Technology Limited (DPT), a Johnson Matthey company, and The Dow Chemical Company announced that the Tianjin Soda Plant (Tianjin Soda), a subsidiary of Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, has selected the LP OxoSM Technology for the second time to be used in its new Butanol/2-ethylhexanol plant in the Harbor Economic Area, Binhai New Area, Tianjin, China. With this licence, Tianjin Soda will build its second oxo plant, with an annual design capacity of 140,000 metric tons of 2-ethylhexanol (2EH), 85,000 metric tons of normal butanol and 24,400 metric tons of iso-butanol. This is the same capacity as its first oxo plant, which is already in operation. Once the second plant is completed, Tianjin Soda will reach a total 2-ethylhexanol and butanols capacity of 500,000 tons per year, making it No.1 in Asia and No.4 in the world of its kind, and the largest single site producer of these products in the world.
Previously in 2007, Dow and DPT licensed the use of LP OxoSM Technology in a 250 kta unit of Tianjin Soda, the largest LP Oxo plant at that time.
“Tianjin Soda’s decision to proceed with this second project using Dow’s and Davy’s LP OxoSM Technology demonstrates their confidence with the technology and the process design,” said Antoine Bordet, Managing Director of DPT. “We have worked closely with Tianjin Soda on this 49th LP OxoSM project to enable them to achieve the required project schedule. This is DPT’s 17th LP OxoSM project in China and we highly value this opportunity to extend the excellent cooperation established between our companies during the first project.”
In addition to the license agreement, a corresponding purchase agreement of n-Butanol products was also signed whereby Dow will purchase a portion of products from Tianjin Soda’s LP Oxo plant over a certain period of time.
“With our collaboration evolving from the single focus of technology to multiple perspectives, Tianjin Soda and Dow share more closely-binded interests, which in return strengthens the foundation of our cooperation,” said James Batt, global director, Oxygenated Solvents. “This licensing deal reinforces our commitment to China while also maintaining our status as the world’s premier supplier of Oxygenated Solvents.”
About LP OxoSM Technology
LP OxoSM Technology is a low-pressure hydroformylation process that is most commonly used with propylene and synthesis gas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide) to produce normal- and isobutyraldehydes. These butyraldehydes are then converted into 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and normal- and isobutanol. Additional applications of the LP OxoSM Technology include a process for producing 2- propyl heptanol, a growing plasticizer alcohol alternative to 2-EH, from mixed butene streams and a process for producing C12 to C15 surfactant range alcohols from C11 to C14 Fischer-Tropsch olefins. The technology is also applied as a component of a process plant for converting heptene-1 that has been extracted from Fischer-Tropsch products to co-monomer grade octene-1. In 2011 DPT and Dow celebrated their 40th anniversary in collaborating in the field of LP OxoSM Technology development and licensing. Over the course of those 40 years, DPT, Dow and their predecessors have licensed the LP OxoSM Technology into 49 projects at 37 plants in 15 countries on four continents.
About Davy Process Technology
Davy Process Technology, a Johnson Matthey company, has a global business in petrochemicals technology development and technology licensing. The company has its headquarters in London and has a Technology Centre in Teesside, UK. It owns a range of proprietary process technologies such as methanol, Fischer-Tropsch, SNG, butanediol, natural detergent alcohols, Oxo alcohols, PTA, industrial amines, ethyl acetate and propylene glycol. For further information, visit the company’s website at www.davyprotech.com.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2011, Dow had annual sales of $60 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 197 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
About Tianjin Soda Plant
Located in the suburbs of Tianjin, Tianjin Soda, the subsidiary of Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, was jointly founded in 1917 by Mr. Fan Xudong, the famous Chinese patriotic industrialist, Mr.Hou Debang, a world-known scientist, and the celebrated entrepreneur Mr. Li Zhuchen. Tianjin Soda marks the cradle of China’s soda industry development and the source of modern chemical industry. Tianjin Soda’s main products include: polyformaldehyde, normal butanol and iso-butanol, ammonium chloride, octanol, sodium bicarbonate, agricultural ammonium chloride, industrial ammonium chlodie, soda ash dense and so on. More information about Tianjin Soda Plant can be found at http://www.tjsoda.com
