KBR starts up advanced catalytic olefin demonstration unit

KBR and SK Innovation today announced the startup of their advanced catalytic olefins (ACOTM) demo plant in Ulsan, South Korea. Operations to date have met the companies’ expectations for high olefins production, particularly propylene, with improved economics relative to steam cracking due to the technology’s higher total olefins yields and increased propylene/ethylene ratios approaching 1.0. The startup marks the first commercial demonstration of ACOTM.

“This is an historic moment not only for KBR and SK Innovation but also for the petrochemical industry. Our collaboration on this successful startup underscores the companies’ shared commitment to developing innovative technology solutions for customers across the globe,” said Tim Challand, president, KBR Technology. “The successful startup of this unit further demonstrates that the process design and hardware supplied by KBR, combined with the catalysts and process developed by SK Innovation, result in a technology that offers yields that surpass those produced by traditional olefins technology in the market today.”

The demonstration unit achieved design feed rate as scheduled in late October 2010. The ACO process provides a highly attractive alternative to naphtha steam crackers and in addition to offering higher olefins production, the process also produces a lower emissions footprint than a conventional cracker. 

The keys to this novel technology are the development of a proprietary catalyst and optimization of operating conditions by SK Innovation coupled with the know-how of KBR in the design of fluid bed reactors and the production of polymer grade ethylene and propylene. 

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