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SCG-DOW Group Reaches Key
Milestone toward Thailand HPPO Plant Start-up
New HPPO facility ramps up to stable production levels in preparation for full capacity run
scheduled for 4Q11.
MIDLAND, Mich. – Oct. 4, 2011 – The
Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:Dow)
announced today that the SCG-Dow
Group, a joint venture between Dow
and SCG, has reached a key milestone
for the new propylene oxide (PO)
facility in Thailand by ramping the
plant up to stable production levels in
preparation for the full capacity run
scheduled for the fourth quarter of
2011. The world-scale plant, located
within the Asia Industrial Estates (AIE)
site near Map Ta Phut, Thailand will
have a name plate capacity of 390
kilotons per annum (KTA) of PO via
the innovative hydrogen peroxide to
propylene oxide (HPPO) technology
jointly developed by Dow and BASF.
“The Map Ta Phut, Thailand HPPO
plant cements Dow’s existing position
as the global capacity leader in PO”,
explained Steven English, global
vice president, Dow Polyurethanes.
“Not only does this large investment
exemplify Dow’s commitment to the
PO-based industry, we also continue
to bring value by investing in the
latest technology and offering a more
sustainable PO to our customers
and our downstream offerings
through Dow’s other Performance
and Advanced Materials businesses,
such as Polyurethanes and Propylene
Glycol.”
According to Holger Baer, global
manufacturing and technology
director, PO/PG, “Within three
years, this is the second world-scale
plant brought on-line with the
innovative Dow-BASF HPPO process.
It significantly reduces wastewater
and energy consumption compared
12 p o l y u r e t h a n e s t o d a y
to existing PO technology, and is
planned to be utilized next in the
Sadara Chemicals Company project
between Dow and Saudi Aramco due
to the clear demonstration of the
advantages of this process.”
“The start-up of this PO plant
has completed the downstream
envelope of the SCG-DOW Group joint
venture cracker in Thailand which
came on-stream last year”, said
Cholanat Yanaranop, president,
SCG Chemicals Company Limited.
“With commitment between the
partners, this is proved to be another
successful project.”
In June of 2010, Dow and BASF were
honored to receive a 2010 Presidential
Green Chemistry Challenge Award for
the jointly developed innovative
HPPO technology – recognized as
a breakthrough technology that
transfers sustainability principles
from the research lab into the real
world to enable environmentally
responsible and economically viable
routes to commercial chemical
manufacturing. In 2009, Dow and
BASF received the Institution of
Chemical Engineers’ Innovation and
Excellence Award in Core Engineering
for their jointly developed HPPO
Technology – recognized as the
process that best demonstrates a
chemical engineering solution to
improve resource efficiency, lifetime
value and/or process optimization.
In December 2010, Dow announced
plans to build a propylene glycol (PG)
plant at the Map Ta Phut, Thailand
site, with a production capacity of
150 KTA. The PG plant is currently
on-track in the design process, and
will utilize this environmentally
advantaged PO from the new HPPO
plant. It will be the largest PG plant
in the Pacific area.
The AIE site also features a specialty
elastomers plant, which announced
start-up earlier this year; power
utilities and infrastructure; and
a new liquids cracker, also jointly
owned by SCG and Dow. “The new
integrated Thailand site serves as
a strategic source point for all of
Asia Pacific, and demonstrates
Dow’s commitment to growing
our presence to serve customers
in our Performance Materials and
Performance Plastics businesses
across the area”, said Pat Dawson,
Dow Asia Pacific president.
Dow to Highlight Innovations
at 2011 CPI Technical
Conference
About Dow Polyurethanes
Dow is the world’s largest producer
of propylene oxide (PO), propylene
glycol (PG), and polyether polyols,
and is a leading producer of quality
aromatic isocyanates, such as
MDI and TDI. Dow’s polyurethane
products enhance a broad range of
applications including construction,
automotive, furniture, bedding,
appliance, decorative molding,
athletic equipment and more. The
business provides key ingredients,
systems and solutions for rigid, semirigid
and flexible foams, adhesives,
sealants, coatings, elastomers and
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