Huizhou Boeko Materials Co. Ltd., a leading materials company in China, has chosen Clariant, a sustainability-focused specialty chemical company, and its process partner Lummus Technology to provide their CATOFIN catalyst and process technology for the dehydrogenation of isobutane at a new plant in Huizhou City. The process technology is licensed exclusively by Lummus Technology, while the tailor-made catalyst is supplied by Clariant. This marks the first time that Huizhou Boeko will be licensing the CATOFIN technology at one of their sites.
The new plant is expected to produce 550,000 metric tons per annum (MTA) of net isobutylene, which will serve as a feedstock for the downstream production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). The CATOFIN process is highly efficient, utilizing fixed-bed reactors and operating at optimum reactor pressure and temperature to maximize catalytic dehydrogenation of isobutane for high yields of isobutylene at low investment and operating costs.
Jens Cuntze, Business President Catalysts and APAC at Clariant, stated, “We are excited to supply our industry leading CATOFIN catalyst to this first Huizhou Boeko plant and are looking forward to a successful partnership. CATOFIN offers excellent reliability and productivity, resulting in superior annual production output and increased profitability for the plant.”
Since its commercial launch in 2017, CATOFIN has been selected for 39 new projects globally, with over 50% of these plants located in China. In response to the growing demand from customers like Huizhou Boeko in the region, Clariant opened a new CATOFIN catalyst plant with significant production capacity in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China in April 2023. This new plant aims to ensure customer proximity and meet the increasing demand for CATOFIN technology in the region.
