Honeywell announced that Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corp (CKPC) has chosen Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex™ technology to produce 550,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene at CKPC’s proposed facility in Sturgeon County near Edmonton, Alberta.
CKPC is a joint venture of Pembina Pipeline Corporation of Canada and Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait.
Honeywell also will provide the process design package, proprietary and non-proprietary equipment, on-site operator training, technical services for start-up and continuing operation, and key catalysts and adsorbents for the project.
Including this project, Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex technology has been selected for 41 out of 51 propane and isobutane dehydrogenation projects globally since 2011.
“Historically, propylene has been produced as a by-product of making ethylene from petroleum, but with the influx of lighter feedstocks, the amount of propylene from these manufacturing processes is dramatically reduced,” said John Gugel, vice president and general manager, process technology and equipment business, Honeywell UOP.
“Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex process addresses the growing propylene supply gap by producing on-purpose propylene from propane, which is in abundant supply,” added Gugel.
CKPC’s proposed new facility is slated to consume 22,000 barrels per day of propane from Pembina Pipeline Corporation’s Redwater fractionation complex and other regional facilities, and to produce more than 1.2 billion pounds per year of polypropylene for customers throughout North America and the world.
Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is proven to have the lowest cash cost of production and the highest return on investment among competing technologies.
Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system minimise its impact on the environment. The independent reaction and regeneration sections enable steady-state operations, improved operating flexibility, and a high on-stream factor and reliability.
Honeywell UOP also licenses C4 Oleflex technology, which converts butanes to butylenes, the primary ingredient for making high-octane fuel additives and synthetic rubber. Since the technology was first commercialised in 1990, Honeywell UOP has commissioned 27 Oleflex units for on-purpose propylene and isobutylene production.
Global production capacity of propylene from Oleflex technology now stands at approximately 6.8 million metric tons per year.
CKPC is in the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase of developing a world-scale integrated propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene upgrading facility.
The project being developed by CKPC remains subject to a positive final investment decision from each partner of the joint venture, as well as regulatory and environmental approvals.
