Anchorage Investments Ltd will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology to produce 750,000 mt per year of polymer-grade propylene for its new Anchor Benitoite petrochemicals complex in Suez, Egypt, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal
Propylene is the primary component in a variety of plastic products that are rapidly growing in demand.
As part of the contract, Honeywell will provide technology licensing and basic engineering design, in addition to services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the plant. This represents UOP’s third award for a C3 Oleflex unit in North Africa, following earlier wins in Egypt and Algeria.
“Anchor Benitoite’s PDH unit is an important production unit in the project; being the upstream propylene-producing unit for the whole complex,” said Ahmed M A Moharram, founder and managing director of Anchorage Investments. “This underscores the significant importance of implementing Honeywell UOP’s well-proven and globally acknowledged propane dehydrogenation technology.”
“The increasing consumption of plastics in the region has created a growing gap between supply and demand for propylene, which has historically been a byproduct of refining fuels,” said Laura Leonard, vice-president and general manager, Honeywell UOP Process Technologies.
Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology converts propane to propylene through catalytic dehydrogenation. The technology is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment when compared to competing dehydrogenation technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system helps minimise its impact on the environment. The independent reactor and regeneration design of the Oleflex technology helps maximise operating flexibility and onstream reliability.
