London and Midland, MI - June 13, 2006
Davy Process Technology Limited in cooperation with Union Carbide Corporation, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, has licensed to Sasol Chemical Industries Ltd. a process for converting heptene to 1-octanol. The process, employing low pressure hydroformylation technology, will be incorporated in a novel scheme by which a heptene feedstock, separated from olefinic cuts and available from Sasol Synthetic Fuels (Pty) Ltd., will be converted to 1-octene.
The 1-octene plant is being built for Sasol Olefins & Surfactants at Sasol’s Secunda complex and will be the third and largest of three 1-octene trains at that location, but the first to employ a hydroformylation step. The first two trains, already in operation, use direct extraction of 1-octene from olefinic cuts. The latest train will produce 100,000 metric tons of 1-octene, and is scheduled to go into operation during the second half of 2007.
1-octene is used as a chemical intermediate in the production of polymers such as polyethylene, fatty acids, plasticizer alcohols and lubrication oil additives.
Davy Process Technology has completed the basic design of the octanol section at its London office, and engineering, procurement and construction is being carried out by the technology group Linde AG. This will be the second alcohols facility Sasol has built that employs Low Pressure Oxo technology; the first is a 120,000 metric tons per year C12 to C15 higher alcohols plant that went into operation in 2002.
That plant is fed with C11 to C15 olefinic cuts. In both cases, the technology was developed and tailored to Sasol’s requirements by Davy Process Technology at its Technology Centre in Stockton-on-Tees, U.K.
Davy Process Technology has a global business in petrochemicals technology development and technology licensing. The company has headquarters in London, and its Technology Centre in Stockton-on-Tees. It owns a range of proprietary process technologies such as Methanol, Gas Conversion Technologies, Butanediol, Natural Detergent Alcohols, Oxo Alcohols, Industrial Amines, Ethyl Acetate and Fertilisers. Davy Process Technology is a Johnson Matthey company. For further information, visit the company’s website at www.davyprotech.com or contact mike.ashley@davyprotech.com.
About Dow
Dow is a diversified chemical company that harnesses the power of science and technology to improve living daily. The Company offers a broad range of innovative products and services to customers in more than 175 countries, helping them to provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. Built on a commitment to its principles of sustainability, Dow has annual sales of $46 billion and employs 42,000 people worldwide. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. Dow Technology Licensing is a business unit of Dow that markets technologies owned by The Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Corporation and their subsidiaries.
For Editorial Information:
Kathleen Davis
The Dow Chemical Company
1-989-636-2760
Michael H. J. Ashley
Davy Process Technology
+44 (0) 20 7957 3975
mike.ashley@davyprotech.com
Liz McDonnell
Gibbs & Soell PR
1-212-697-2600, ext. 247
emcdonnell@gibbs-soell.com
