Lurgi will provide technology licensing and engineering to Saudi Basic Industries Corp. for its planned oleochemical plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
According to SABIC, the plant will be the first of its type in the Middle East. The complex will be designed to produce 83,000 metric tons per year of distilled natural alcohols of various compositions that are commonly used in lube additives, plastic industries, household and laundry products, cosmetics and personal care.
The Riyadh-based company said start up of the new production is planned for the end of 2013. The feedstock used for this process is based on natural raw materials from renewable oils such as palm kernel oil and coconut oil, said Abdulrahman Al-Ubaid, SABIC executive vice president of technology and innovation.
The manufacturers expansion of its ethylene oxide derivatives business, with emphasis on ethoxylate surfactants, will further be strengthened through backwards integration into natural fatty alcohols, stated Rusmir Niksic, the firms general manager of functional chemicals. Turki Al-Hamdan, the companys global business manager for ethoxylates and amines, noted that the natural alcohol plant allows for new investments in downstream industries in the region.
Based in Frankfurt, Germany, Lurgi GmbH is an international technology company working in the energy sector. It is a subsidiary of Paris-based Air Liquide, an international producer of medical and industrial gases.