17 February 2004
Titan Chemicals selects ABB Lummus and BASF Technologies for Olefins Conversion Unit and Butadiene Plant

Titan Chemicals has selected ABB Lummus Global Inc. (Lummus) and BASF technologies for a new olefins conversion unit and a new butadiene plant in  Pasir Gudang, Johor. The company's main operating subsidiary Titan Petchem (M) Sdn Bhd signed an Engineering and Technical Services Agreement worth an estimated RM24.3 million, with ABB Lummus Global Inc. (Lummus), part of ABB, a leading global power and automation technology provider today.   

The new unit, will employ the Olefins Conversion Technology (OCT), licensed by ABB Lummus Global, to convert ethylene and butenes to propylene. The additional  propylene will be used for a proposed 130,000 MTA increase in polypropylene capacity. The unit will also include BASF's butadiene technology, for production of approximately 100,000 TPA of butadiene.

ABB Lummus Global will provide basic engineering and technology licenses.  Both units are expected to come on-stream by end 2006 during a period of sharply increasing demand for both propylene and butadiene in the region.  The new olefins conversion unit will be the first plant installation in Malaysia to produce propylene using the OCT technology.

This process has operated successfully in the U.S. for many years, followed by a second plant now in operation in the U.S.  The first plant in Japan utilizing OCT has recently been commissioned, and eight other units are in various stages of design and construction worldwide.

Propylene is a chemical building block for many derivatives including polypropylene (PP). PP is used to manufacture a wide variety of products such as   automobile bumpers, films, electronic circuits and DVDs. Butadiene is the raw material for styrene-butadiene rubber copolymers (SBR) used in the production of automobile and other products.

"The new olefins conversion unit will help optimize our olefins production by converting low-value butenes into propylene. The additional propylene thus made available will enable Titan Chemicals to expand polypropylene capacity by 130MTA to meet growing market needs, " said Mr Donald M. Condon Jr., Managing Director of Titan Chemicals.

"In the case of butadiene extraction, we will be adding significant value to a by-product stream. There is a growing shortage of butadiene in this region and a significant portion of our output will be sold on attractive contract terms. We will be signing long-term butadiene off take agreements shortly," Mr. Condon added.

The olefins conversion unit, the polypropylene expansion and the butadiene projects are expected to better the earnings of Titan Chemicals in the coming years.

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