Honeywell (Morris Township, New Jersey / USA; www.honeywell.com) has broken ground on a new manufacturing line at its facility in Zhangjiagang / China, for the catalysts used in its methanol-to-olefins (MTO) process. Production at the site, which is located on an industrial park about 137 km northwest of Shanghai, is targeted to start in 2017.

Honeywell said the facility would allow it to fully manufacture MTO catalysts in China for the first time for its Chinese customers. MTO technology converts methanol from coal or natural gas into ethylene and propylene, the primary feedstocks for making plastics.

According to Honeywell, global demand for ethylene and propylene is rising by 4-5% annually and China is expected to invest more than USD 100 bn by 2020 in coal-to-chemicals-technology in order to reduce its dependence on imported oil to make plastic resins, films and fibres (for an overview, see also Plasteurope.com of 27.01.2015).

The Zhangjiagang facility, which opened in 2015, also produces catalysts for Honeywell UOP’s (Des Plaines, Illinois / USA; www.uop.com) “Oleflex” process that converts propane into propylene, and “CCR Platforming” for producing high-octane gasoline. In addition, the site produces adsorbent materials used in refining and petrochemical production and natural gas processing. Honeywell said it is planning to produce materials for other fast-growing technologies at Zhangjiagang.

Honeywell UOP has licensed eight MTO units in China in the last three years (Plasteurope.com has reported extensively). The first was to Wilson Clean Energy which started production in 2013. The most recent licence was agreed last December with Luxi Chemical.