14-06-2017

Grace licenses UNIPOL PP process technology to Hengli Petrochemical Refinery Co

W. R. Grace & Co, the world’s leading supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) process technology, contracted to license its UNIPOL® PP process technology to Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Hengli Group. The installation will be made at the company’s facility in Dalian, Liaoning province, China, and is expected to begin operations in 2019 using Grace’s leading SHAC® Ziegler Natta PP catalysts.

Hengli Petrochemical’s PP unit is part of its new refinery complex designed to process 20 million tons of crude oil annually. The facility will produce a total of 450 kilotons per year of homopolymer, random copolymer, and impact copolymer thermoplastic resins in dual reactor lines. The project is one of 22 UNIPOL® PP process technology reactor line licenses in China.

Grace’s UNIPOL® PP process technology is an all gas-phase technology with the industry’s broadest product capabilities coupled with stable and predictable operation. UNIPOL® PP process technology is the simplest of all PP process technologies, with fewer moving parts and less equipment than any competing alternative. This leads to lower capital, operating, and maintenance costs while maximizing reliability. Although mechanically simple, the technology enables the production of the broadest, most advanced homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers in the industry.

Hengli Corporation’s Vice Chairman Chen Xinhua said, “Grace’s UNIPOL® PP process and SHAC® catalyst system offers us the most advanced PP product capacity available, and provides the most cost-effective technology to rapidly develop our portfolio of products.”

Al Beninati, President of Grace’s Specialty Catalysts business segment, said, “Grace is proud to partner with Hengli Petrochemical and continue our record of service to customers in China. We believe this represents more evidence that our industry-leading process technology and catalysts technologies combine to provide our customers unparalleled flexibility to deliver the resins that are in highest demand.”