Poland’s Orlen purchases IPA licence and basic design

LONDON (ICIS)–Poland’s PKN Orlen said on Tuesday it has purchased a licence and basic design from Badger Licensing for an isopropanol (IPA) installation.

If Orlen decides to go ahead with the construction of the installation it would become only the fifth company in the world to boast innovative IPA production technology, it added.

Applications in the packaging, medical and hygiene sectors – including for hand sanitizers – have seen strong demand for IPA amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken its price to a record high.

The availability of an IPA plant at Orlen might help prepare Poland for a future pandemic, the company noted.

Orlen said it would use acetone byproduct taken from its phenol production as the feedstock should it move into IPA production, which would take place at its Plock, central Poland petrochemical complex.

IPA is produced from a reaction of acetone with hydrogen.

Zbigniew Leszczynski, Orlen’s management board member responsible for development, said in a press release that the IPA project would be “an example of our well-thought-out strategy in which we shift the portfolio of large-volume products to specialised products, responding to the growing demands of customers”.

Badger Licensing is wholly owned by London-headquartered TechnipFMC.