United States. Oxea announced that the new global propanol production unit at its Bay City headquarters in Texas is mechanically complete. The new "Propanol 2" facility is being commissioned and is scheduled for commercial production in the third quarter of 2018.
With a nominal capacity of 100,000 tons per year of n-propanol, Propanol 2 is currently one of Oxea's largest investment projects. Using Oxea's advanced patented process technology and extensive process knowledge, process stability in the new unit will be improved, achieving even higher product quality. In addition, Propanol 2 will produce fewer undesirable by-products due to optimized and more efficient production.
"At Oxea, safety at work was paramount to the plant construction project and consequently we achieved exceptional health and safety performance. Despite challenges such as delays due to Hurricane Harvey, construction of Propanol 2 is currently on schedule and on budget. The collaboration between our experienced and highly skilled project teams, construction management and construction contractors and Oxea's operations group was outstanding," said Markus Heuwes, Propanol 2 project manager at Oxea.
"Propanol 2 has been built in line with our long-term selective growth strategy driven by our CEO, Dr. Salim Al Huthaili, and will be a game changer for the markets. With our new additional capacity, Oxea can further expand into existing and future growth markets. Propanol 2 is also a sign of our confidence in the competitiveness of the U.S. petrochemical industry and underscores the importance of our Bay City production site," explained Naoko Roth, Oxea's U.S. marketing director Oxo Intermediates.
