Current News

Contact | Print version | PDF version | Send article | RSS feed

Evonik and Sibur Review Options for Cooperation in the Russian Federation
Feasibility study underway regarding the construction of chemical plants for propylene oxide and hydrogen peroxide

01 Apr 2008 - Evonik Industries AG and the Russian JSC Sibur Holding, based in Moscow, have agreed to start an exclusive feasibility study regarding the possible construction of a facility to produce propylene oxide (PO), together with hydrogen peroxide, for use in the Russian Federation. The study is to be completed in the coming months and will determine possible locations and capacities.
 
Sibur is considering the construction of a PO plant that uses the new HPPO process, which produces propylene oxide from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and propylene in a low-cost and ecologically sound manner. Evonik and the engineering company Uhde, Dortmund, Germany, jointly developed this HPPO process and are now licensing it to other chemical companies.
 
According to the company, Evonik is the only company that can provide the process technology for the HPPO process to produce propylene oxide, the necessary special catalyst, and the raw material, hydrogen peroxide, from a single source. If it receives approval Evonik and Sibur will review the establishment of a joint venture for the production of hydrogen peroxide with Evonik's own technology to supply a potential HPPO plant with the hydrogen peroxide. The H2O2 plant, to be constructed at the same location as the HPPO plant in the Russian Federation, would supply the planned PO production of Sibur with hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, the estimated capacity is to be sufficiently large that the joint venture would supply the growing market in the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with H2O2 for conventional applications, primarily in paper and pulp bleaching processes.