Hyundai Chemical to expand South Korean plant using UOP technology

Honeywell announced Wednesday that Hyundai Chemical Co. will use technology from Honeywell's UOP to expand its petrochemicals complex in Daesan Republic, South Korea, allowing it to make its own feedstock material to boost profitability.

The facility will use technology as well as modular equipment from UOP to allow the plant to make mixed xylenes, a critical feedstock used by the plant to produce paraxylene, a building block for synthetic fibers, packaging and plastics that is in high demand in Asia.

Back-integrating the facility to make its own feedstock will reduce the plant's dependence on imports of mixed xylenes and its exposure to the volatile market for the feedstock. The plant currently uses UOP technology to produce paraxylene.

"Back-integrating this plant using Honeywell UOP technology and equipment will allow Hyundai Chemical to better manage its operations and make it a more competitive player in the market for para-xylene," said Mike Millard, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP's process technology and equipment business. "Using modular equipment for the project ensures that the expansion will be operational sooner than if the equipment were built on site."

UOP modular equipment is built under controlled conditions in fabrication shops and fully inspected prior to shipment, enabling fast-track delivery, quality assurance and compliance with specifications, according to the company. The modules are designed to reduce installation time and can result in earlier startup, further improving project economics.

The expansion project will specifically allow the complex to convert naphtha -- an intermediate product produced in the oil refining process -- into 1 MMtpy of mixed xylenes. Hyundai Chemical said it selected UOP equipment and technology for the expansion due to the efficient and reliable performance of its Parex and Isomar processes for paraxylene production, which Hyundai Cosmo Petrochemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Cosmo Oil, licensed in 2010.

In addition to licensing, UOP will provide the basic engineering, commissioning services, training services, proprietary equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the new portion of the complex, which is expected to come online in 2016. Officials at UOP say their technologies licensed for this expansion include:

Hyundai Chemical Co. is a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank Co. and Lotte Chemical. It is a leading producer of nylon and polyester synthetic textiles, based in South Korea.