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.”

Source: Dow