A new technology for the production of linear alpha-olefins (LAOs) has been announced by joint developers: the Saudi chemical company Sabic and process engineering specialist Linde
Although Sabic already manufactures 1-butene from ethylene, this development will lead to the production of its first full range of LAOs.
Brian Balmer, industry analyst with Frost and Sullivan, explores the details in this article.
This new process is being licensed under the trade name a-Sablin.
According to Sabic, the process uses a single-stage reactor, producing high-purity products without the need for super-fractionation to remove side products.
Product distribution flexibility is also said to be high, so that process parameters can be adjusted to maximise the production of either light or heavy LAOs depending on market demands.
The first plant to make use of the new technology will be built by a subsidiary company of Sabic, United Petrochemical, that has been set up specifically for this purpose.
Start-up of the 150,000 tonne/yr plant on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia is expected in 2004.
This is the third LAO plant under construction in the Middle East, with others in Qatar and Iran.
The a-Sablin technology will also be licensed to potential producers by both Linde and Sabic.
This technology represents the second major new production process for alpha olefins in recent years.
Union Carbide (now integrated into Dow) developed an oligomerisation catalyst in conjunction with process engineering specialist UOP. This process is called Linear-1, and is also said to offer good product distribution flexibility.
In addition to process development, global capacity for LAOs is on the rise, with new plants under construction on three continents.
The main applications for LAOs are for polymerisation, either alone for PAO synthetic lubricants or as copolymers with ethylene to improve the mechanical properties of HDPE and LLDPE.
Companies such as Chevron Philips are increasingly marketing their LAOs as intermediates for speciality and fine chemicals.
Recent advertisements published in the European chemical press by Chevron Philips focus on syntheses using LAOs including hydrosilylation, epoxidation and organometallic synthesis.
(It should, however, be noted that Chevron Philips markets alpha olefins as normal alpha olefins rather than linear alpha olefins.) Sabic's is the seventh LAO plant to be announced for completion between 2001 and 2005.
Total capacity for these plants is estimated at one million tonnes per annum.
Total global demand for alpha olefins was approximately 2.5 million tonnes in 2000.
Growth rates in Europe, the United States and China for PAO synthetic lubricants, one of the major applications for LAOs, are between 8.5 and 10% per annum.
Global demand for LAO from these markets will therefore increase by over 100,000 tonnes, or 10% of this total planned expansion, in just three years.
With demand for LAOs also increasing in the polyethylene market, and demand often exceeding supply in recent years, it appears that these investments are merited.
There are also potential hitches, however.
For example, if metallocene catalysed process technology keeps increasing its market share in the polyolefin market, demand for LAOs could be hit as they are not used in metallocene-catalysed polyolefins.
Similarly, PAO lubricants could be hit by increasing popularity in cheaper PIO lubricant base oils, which rely on different raw materials.
The construction of another LAO plant appears justified given growth in demand from applications such as PAO synthetic lubricants and polyethylene co-monomers.
This and the other six plants either under construction or recently completed will add one million tonnes per annum to global capacity.
Therefore, unless this new technology can be used to upgrade existing facilities, the scope for Sabic and Linde to license a-Sablin appears limited in the short term.
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