New Kuwait Olefins Co EO/EG plant, largest of its kind to employ Dow Technology Licensing's METEOR™ EO/EG Process

12-Dec-08

Dow Technology Licensing, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated affiliates (Dow), today that the new 600,000 tpa ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol (EO/EG) production unit at The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC) complex is the largest single plant of its kind to employ METEOR™ EO/EG Process. The new plant, known as EG-2, is part of the larger Olefins II Kuwait (O2K) expansion project and is owned by TKOC and operated by EQUATE Petrochemical Company. The plant began commercial production in late August. A team composed of Dow's technical and EQUATE's production personnel successfully completed a series of tests to ensure that the plant would operate at optimal processing efficiency soon after start-up. "We're extremely pleased with the efficient and timely start-up of this newest EO/EG unit, which once again validates the critical role our technical teams and our METEOR EO/EG Process plays in the global industrial marketplace," said Dr. Molly Zhang, business vice president of Dow Technology Licensing. "When producers around the world begin to consider building or expanding their EO/EG capacity, our proven technology and experience with the EG-2 plant and many others makes a strong case for choosing the METEOR EO/EG Process for their projects." With its simple, single-reactor design, the industry leading METEOR EO/EG process offers the new complex a high-performing process and catalyst for efficient EO/EG production. The EG-2 plant has the largest single EO reactor in operation. Dow and its affiliates are world leaders in EO/EG production. Commercialized in 1994, the METEOR technology uses a streamlined process and a unique EO catalyst, which combines both high activity and the highest selectivity in the industry, to produce ethylene oxide and ethylene glycols with fewer process steps, less equipment and smaller plot size requirements than competitive technologies. As a result, the process has low capital costs and the high selectivity of the METEOR EO Catalyst results in a substantial reduction in plant emissions.