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PKN ORLEN Licenses Honeywell UOP technology for new phenol complex In Poland

| By Gerald Ondrey

Honeywell says that PKN ORLEN (www.orlen.pl) plans to use the UOP (Des Plaines, Ill.: www.uop.com) Q-Max and Phenol 3G technologies to produce 200,000 metric tons per annum of phenol at its facility in Płock, Poland. UOP is providing a license for the technology, in addition to basic engineering design services, plus key equipment, catalysts and adsorbents and technical services.

As part of the project, UOP will provide a cumene unit and a phenol unit with alpha methyl styrene hydrogenation. When completed, the new complex would increase PKN’s market position in high-margin petrochemicals including phenol and acetone.

“These technologies make it possible for PKN ORLEN to extend its benzene production into phenol and acetone derivatives,” says Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Petrochemicals & Refining Technologies business. “By doing so, PKN ORLEN would be in a position to meet the growing demand for phenol and other petrochemicals in Poland and even become a net exporter of those products.”

Cumene is the primary building block for making phenol and its derivatives. UOP’s Q-Max process converts benzene and propylene into high-quality cumene at low benzene-to-propylene ratios using regenerable catalysts that reduce byproduct transalkylation catalyst requirements, and lower utility consumption and capital requirements for downstream fractionation equipment.

The UOP 3G Phenol unit converts cumene into phenol with high yields and product quality, and low utility consumption. The phenol product is converted into plastics and other related materials, including bisphenol-A, a building block for polycarbonate plastics, and phenolic resins used to make durable laminated boards and industrial adhesives.

When integrated, the two technologies offer even lower utility consumption and a high yield of phenol, with outstanding operating flexibility, on-stream time, reliability and safety, says UOP.