Munich, March 20, 2024 – Clariant, a sustainability-focused specialty chemical company, and its process partner Lummus Technology have installed CATOFIN catalysts for the dehydrogenation of isobutane in a new factory in Huizhou, China, by Huizhou Boeko Materials Co. Ltd. Selected to provide process technology. . The process technology is exclusively licensed by Lummus Technology and the bespoke catalyst is supplied by his Clariant. This is the first time that Huizhou Botech is licensing his CATOFIN technology on its own site.
The scope of the current award includes technology licensing and basic engineering. Once completed, the plant will produce 550,000 metric tons per year (MTA) of net isobutylene and will serve as a feedstock for downstream methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) production. The highly efficient CATOFIN process uses a fixed-bed reactor and operates at optimal reactor pressures and temperatures to maximize catalytic dehydrogenation of isobutane to obtain high yields of isobutylene with low capital and operating costs.
“We are pleased to deliver our industry-leading CATOFIN catalysts to this first Huizhou Bogong factory and look forward to a fruitful partnership. CATOFIN offers superior reliability and productivity, resulting in superior annual output, which leads to improved overall plant profitability.” said Jens Kunze, Business President, Catalyst and Asia Pacific at Clariant.
New factory keeps customers close and meets growing demand
Since its commercial launch in 2017, CATOFIN has been selected for 39 new projects worldwide. More than 50% of these factories are located in China. To meet the rapidly growing demands of customers such as Huizhou Bogog in the region and to ensure proximity to the neighbourhood, Clariant recently announced that it will open a new CATOFIN plant with significant production capacity in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, China in April 2023. Opened a catalyst factory.
