Technip venture to provide technology for new China styrene, EB plant

Badger Licensing today announced that Qingdao Soda Ash Industrial New Material & Technology Co. has selected Badger’s proprietary technology for a 500,000-tpy grassroots ethylbenzene / styrene monomer (EB/SM) plant being built in Dongjiakou Port Industrial Zone Park, in Qingdao City. 

The technology license is being contracted through Badger’s affiliate, Technip Stone & Webster Process Technology, which is also supplying engineering, technical services and selected critical equipment for the plant.

The new plant, one of the largest EB/SM plants in China, will utilize Badger’s proprietary EBMax technology integrated with Badger’s styrene technology. 

Basic engineering design work has begun and the plant is scheduled for mechanical completion and startup in 2017.

“Qingdao Soda Ash is an important new styrene producer in China,” said Stuart Agler, president of Badger. “We are proud that they have selected Badger’s technologies and we look forward to working with them on this significant project to ensure the successful design, startup and operation of the plant.”

Styrene monomer, with a worldwide capacity of over 30 million tpy, is a precursor to the production of a variety of polymer derivatives, including polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). 

Badger’s EBMax and styrene technologies have been licensed more than 30 and 50 times, respectively, for plants around the world.

Badger Licensing, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, is a venture of affiliates of Technip and ExxonMobil Chemical. Badger Licensing is principally engaged in marketing, licensing, and developing technologies for ethylbenzene, styrene monomer, cumene, and bisphenol A.