SABIC and plastics group SABIC selected the American Science and Design (SD) Ethylene Oxide/Ethylene Glycol (EO/EG) technology for a 700,000-ton-per-year ethylene glycol capacity at the Jubair plant. It will be the 8th SD authorized by SABIC's EO/EG facility. The company is jointly owned by SABIC and Clariant, a Swiss specialty chemical company.
The contract includes process technology licenses, process design options, technical assistance and start-up services, as well as SD's initial charge of EO catalyst. The timeline for this project has not been disclosed.
SABIC previously selected SD to provide process design solutions, technical assistance and start-up services to expand the EO/EG plant in Kayan, Saudi Arabia (also located in Jubail) and the Yansab EG factory in Yanbu. Kayan and Yansab in Saudi Arabia are subsidiaries of SABIC. .
Since November last year, the Kayan plant in Saudi Arabia has been operating at an expanded capacity. The expansion of the Yansab plant is also expected to be completed by mid-2018.