OMV AG, Vienna, is investing €64 million to build a unit that will produce high-purity isobutene at subsidiary OMV Deutschland GMBH’s 76,300-b/d refinery in Burghausen, Germany.
The 60,000-tonne/year ISO C4 unit—which will be integrated into the refinery’s existing metathesis plant responsible for energy-efficient manufacturing of propylene for the plastics industry—will feature the first global application of an OMV-BASF SE jointly developed technology for direct production of high-purity isobutene, OMV said.
The advantage of integrating the ISO C4 and metathesis units supports OMV’s heat-integration strategy, which will allow up to 80% of the heating energy required by the new process to be met by waste heat from existing installations at the site, the operator said.
BASF also will supply a catalyst system that will fulfill all process requirements for the plant that—scheduled for start of construction this summer—is due for commissioning in September 2020.
Isobutene produced by the new unit will complement OMV’s current product portfolio and will be used for manufacturing glues, grease, and other chemicals such as antioxidants, as well as in the production of vitamin C.
While OMV disclosed no further details regarding the new technology, the company said it does plan to license the technology to third parties sometime in the future.
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
