ILLINOIS, USA: UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, said that its technology has been selected by Great Orient Chemical Company to produce the key ingredient for biodegradable household laundry detergents. Great Orient Chemical expects the new complex to produce up to 100,000 metric tons per year of linear alkylbenzene (LAB).
China is one of the world’s largest consumers of detergent and demand is expected to grow 5 to 6 per cent annually, according to Chinese detergent industry figures. Basic engineering of the unit, which will include the UOP Pacol, UOP DeFine and UOP Detergent Alkylation processes, is under way and the project is expected to come on-stream in the second quarter of 2012. Great Orient Chemical Pte Ltd, wholly-owned by the Singapore GOC Pte. Ltd, is a joint venture between Indonesian Salim Group and Korean ISU Chemicals focused on expanding detergents capacity in China.
“We have had a long and successful relationship with both Salim Group and ISU Chemicals, and we have designed several LAB plants for them in various locations. Our detergent technologies are designed to provide maximum yield at minimum production cost, which is ideal for this new venture,” said Pete Piotrowski, Senior VP- Process Technology and Equipment business unit, UOP.
(C) WOC News