Sumitomo will build plant to make PO only

11 September 2000 00:00  [Source: ACN]

Sumitomo Chemical has developed a proprietary catalyst to produce propylene oxide (PO) without any coproducts.

The company is building a 200 000 tonne/ year commercial plant based on this process in Chiba, Japan. The plant will start up in 2002.

Conventional technologies currently produce styrene and MTBE as coproducts.

'With our catalyst, we can produce as much PO as we want without having to worry about the unwanted styrene output,' a Sumitomo spokesman said.

He claimed that Sumitomo is the first company to develop such a technology.

Sumitomo intends to set up overseas production bases using the new process.

The company's existing PO plant in Japan uses Arco's PO process, of which styrene is a coproduct.

The 170 000 tonne/year Chiba plant is operated by Sumitomo affiliate Nihon Oxirane Co.

Sumitomo expects PO demand in Asia to grow at 7-8%/year in the next few years.

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