Another plant could form part of a complex in Indonesia that BP is studying. The BP technology is based on catalytic ammoxidation of propylene to acrylonitrile. The latest catalyst, C49MC, gives a 10-20 per cent increase in productivity over its predecessor, and its performance is close to 80 per cent conversion per pass. However, with the useful yield approaching 100 per cent there is little more that can be squeezed out of the catalyst, so BP has looked at other ways to improve the process. Propylene is the key raw material and accounts for 65 per cent of the final product cost.
Propane is more abundant and cheaper than propylene.
Making polyketones BP's solution, announced at the ACS landmark ceremony earlier this year, is to change over to propane as the direct feedstock for acrylonitrile production. The company hopes that in the long long term the new catalyst can be ramped up an efficiency curve the way the original Sohio catalyst has been. Switching options Flexibility is the key selling point of another process licensing collaboration, this time between BP's Warrensville centre and Lurgi of Germany. They claim that a simple change to the process conditions in the Geminox hydrogenation system and the recovery and purification systms will allow customers to switch between THF or GBL to match market demand. BP and its partner are promoting Geminox as the answer to manufacturers' needs for this whole range of products.