30-05-2017

Honeywell UOP opens new research development and engineering center in China

Honeywell today announced that Honeywell UOP will open a new research, development and engineering center in China to further strengthen its business presence and meet its growing engineering and technical service needs.
 
The new center, located in Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu Province, will facilitate local development and manufacturing of products for customers in China and improve collaboration with China-based contractors and equipment vendors.
 
“The center demonstrates our commitment to supporting rapid business growth in China,” said Rebecca Liebert, president and CEO of Honeywell UOP. “It’s also another milestone in expanding Honeywell UOP's global footprint to better serve our customers where they operate.”
 
During the first stage of the project, running through 2020, Honeywell UOP will build a 2,500-sq. meter office space employing 150 people.
 
“Once completed, the center will support Honeywell UOP’s technology delivery and after-sales throughout the product lifecycle, from technical proposal, design and supply, to project commissioning, after-startup technical support and revamps,” said Henry Liu, general manager of Honeywell UOP China. “In fact, we’re already working with Chinese partners to develop new process technologies for Chinese refiners and petrochemical companies -- and for customers outside of China.”
 
Honeywell UOP previously announced the investment of two production lines in its manufacturing facility, also in Zhangjiagang, to produce state-of-the-art catalysts used to make components for plastics production and for refined products.
 
The first line went into production in 2015, producing catalysts that are used in Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex™ process, which converts propane into propylene, and in continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) Platforming™ process, which is used to produce high-octane gasoline. The second line will enter production later this year, making catalysts used in Honeywell UOP’s Advanced Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process technology, which converts methanol from coal into materials for making plastics.
 
Honeywell UOP has an 80-year history in China, beginning in 1937 when it helped build one of China’s first refineries in Yumen, Gansu Province. It was one of the first American companies invited back to China during the 1970s, to help modernize the Chinese petroleum industry. More recently, Honeywell UOP hydroprocessing and Platforming™ technology has helped China develop cleaner-burning transportation fuels to combat air pollution.