Engro selects technology partners for $1.5 billion polypropylene investment

ISLAMABAD: Engro Corporation has selected Honeywell UOP and WR Grace & Co as technology partners to use their licensed process technology for the $1.5 billion, 750,000 Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) and Polypropylene (PP) production facility, that would make the country a self-sufficient producer of polypropylene.
According to a press statement, polypropylene resin is used in the manufacturing of a variety of daily-use consumer products including woven bags, food and non-food packaging, films, sheets, household containers, battery casings, kitchenware, electrical appliances, bottles, caps, pipes & fittings, medical equipment, and a wide range of other products. To meet these needs, polypropylene has a local annual demand of 500,000 with an expected growth rate of 7 percent annually.
Honeywell will provide its C3 Oleflex technology and basic engineering design services, in addition to equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the plant. Since 2011, most of the new dehydrogenation projects globally have been based on UOP C3 Oleflex technology.
However, this will mark the first use of C3 Oleflex in Pakistan. The technology is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and a higher return on investment when compared to competing for dehydrogenation technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system, help minimise its impact on the environment. The independent reactor and regeneration design of the Oleflex technology helps maximise operating flexibility and onstream reliability.
WR Grace & Co will provide its state-of-the-art UNIPOL PP Process Technology to help achieve mechanical and operational simplicity. The process technology, coupled with Grace’s proprietary catalyst and donor systems and the UNIPOL UNIPPAC Process Control System, allows for maximum performance.
While announcing the new partnerships, Ghias Khan, President & CEO of Engro Corporation said, “Engro continues on its journey towards solving the most pressing issues of our time by investing in projects which will serve to be catalysts of growth for Pakistan.”
Currently, Pakistan spends about USD 600 million on the annual import of polypropylene. – TLTP