Construction of Huntsmans and Al-Zamil Groups ethyleneamines joint venture plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, is on schedule and expected to finish by November, Huntsman said Jan. 28. The plant would then be on track to be fully commissioned and to begin production in the first quarter of next year.
The companies formed their fifty-fifty joint venture, Arabian Amines Co., in 2006 to construct the plant using proprietary process technology from Huntsman, which will also serve as the exclusive sales and marketing agents for its output. The Asian market is still the focus for the products that will be coming out of that plant, Huntsman spokesman Russ Stolle told Lube Report.
The plant will have estimated capacity to produce 30,000 metric tons per year – up from 27,000 mt/y when announced in April 2008 – of ethyleneamines, including ethylenediamine (EDA), diethylenetriamine (DETA), triethylenetetramine (TETA) and higher molecular versions such as TEPA, E-100, AEP and piperazine. The joint venture also designed the plant to accommodate an economical addition of a second train within the next several years, which would double capacity.
Once completed, the addition of this plant to our current production capacity will make Huntsman the worlds largest ethyleneamines producer, said Stu Monteith, vice president of performance specialties at Huntsman. Products from this facility will be sold globally.
Other major producers of ethyleneamines include BASF, Dow subsidiary Union Carbide, Akzo Nobel, Tosoh Corp., and Delamine, which is a joint venture in the Netherlands between Akzo Nobel and Japans Tosoh.
Huntsmans customers use ethyleneamines for a variety of end-use applications, including lube oils, fungicides, paper resins, epoxies and chelants. The largest application area is in ashless dispersants for engine oils and in other lubricants, and in some dispersant-detergents for fuels.
Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia-based Al-Zamil Group is a global investment company.