Honeywell announced that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will use Honeywell UOP’s (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) C3 Oleflex technology in its second propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant, called “PDH 2.” Located near Mont Belvieu, Texas, PDH 2 will produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene as part of Enterprise’s expansion of propylene manufacturing capacity.
Honeywell UOP will provide licensing for the Oleflex technology, in addition to engineering, catalysts, adsorbents, services, and equipment for the plant. Enterprise has operated a UOP C4 Oleflex unit, which converts isobutane to isobutylene, since 1993 and currently is building a second C4 Oleflex unit at Mont Belvieu.
The new propane dehydrogenation unit will have capacity to produce up to 1.65 billion pounds per year of polymer grade propylene. The unit is scheduled to begin service in the first half of 2023.
Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment compared to competing dehydrogenation technologies. In addition, the Oleflex technology’s low energy consumption, low emissions, minimal water use, and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system helps minimize its impact on the environment, says the company. The independent reactor and regeneration design of the Oleflex technology helps maintain stable operations with high onstream reliability.