Turkey Taps Honeywell for First Propane Dehydrogenation Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Turkey has advanced plans to build its first propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit by sealing a deal for process technology for propylene production from Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Illinois).

The $400 million plant will be based at a grassroot petrochemical complex in the Ceyhan Mega Petrochemical Industry Zone of Ceyhan, Turkey. The contract was awarded by Ceyhan Polipropilen Uretim which is a joint venture of Ronesans Holding and the Algerian national energy company Sonatrach S.p.A. It will license Honeywell's proprietary C3 Oleflex technology for the PDH unit, which will be equipped to produce 457,000 tonnes per year of polymer-grade propylene for production of polypropylene at the complex. It will also supply basic engineering design, services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the plant. Ceyhan Polipropilen Uretim also is constructing a $600 million polypropylene plant. Both projects are due to be commissioned in 2023 and are being tracked by Industrial Info.

Turkey wants to reduce its almost total reliance on polypropylene imports. Demand for polypropylene in Turkey--which accounts for half the total demand for polypropylene in the region--is expected to rise at about 2.5% per year over the next decade. The new plant will slash Turkish imports of polypropylene by 25%, and offset approximately $13 billion in imported petrochemicals, representing a third of Turkey's foreign trade deficit in manufacturing.

"There is growing demand in the region for propylene to make plastics, and that propylene has historically been a by-product of refining fuels, or a product of naphtha cracking," explained Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP's Petrochemicals and Refining Technologies business. "The Oleflex technology produces a high yield of propylene from propane derived from natural gas, and Ceyhan is an ideal location for this technology because it's close to the main consumers of polypropylene in Turkey."

A domestic propylene and polypropylene plant will allow turkey to reduce its imports from the Middle East and Europe. Earlier this year, Dr. Erman Ilıcak, Rönesan's holding president, said: "Turkey currently imports polypropylene, a raw material used in the production of plastics. The country imports 2.2 million tonnes of polypropylene, 2.6 million tonnes of polyethylene and 1.5 million tonnes of PVC per year, which corresponds to 3 to 4% of total global consumption, and 90% of Turkey's raw material needed in this sector. Today, we have set on a new path to close this deficit. We are taking giant strides forward. This investment will reduce Turkey's national deficit by $450-$500 million each year."

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