Jacobs Engineering to Complete Basic Engineering for Sasol's First Commercial Installation of Tetramerization Technology

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE:JEC) (Pasadena, California) has begun work on the basic engineering for the first commercial installation of the tetramerization technology developed by the South African oil, gas and chemical company Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL) (Johannesburg). The commencement of the work follows on from the recent award of the basic engineering contract.

Tetramerization technology is the term given to the process in which four ethylene molecules form a single octene molecule. The process was developed in Sasol's research and development laboratories, and Jacobs expects to have the basic engineering completed by the third quarter of 2010.

The location of the first commercial unit has not been announced at this stage, although several sites are under review. However, a strongly tipped favorite is Sasol's chemical complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The first unit is expected to have a combined production capacity for 1-octene and 1-hexene of about 100,000 tons per year. Construction is proposed to start in 2011, and first production will begin in 2013.

Sasol is currently the world's largest producer of 1-octene, with a production capacity of 196,000 tons per year. Octene is used mainly as a co-monomer in the production of high-performance, linear low-density polyethylene resins. These resins, in turn, are used to produce a wide range of products that require the specific properties octene produces, such as strength, elasticity and puncture-resistance.

Typical products using octene are high-density wire coatings, raincoats, strong plastic bags and automobile interiors, and low-density cling wrap for food packaging and shopping bags. The chemical is also widely used in the production process for alcohols, acids and elastomers. The tetramerization technology, unique to Sasol, enables the company to efficiently produce specific products demanded by customers.

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