New BASF and Dow HPPO Plant in Antwerp Completes Start-Up Phase
BASF SE and The Dow Chemical Company announced that the world's largest commercial-scale propylene oxide (PO) plant and the first based on the innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology jointly developed by BASF and Dow has completed its start-up phase and is running stably.
This HPPO complex, with a capacity of 300,000 metric tons PO per year located at BASF's site in Antwerp, Belgium, provides economies of scale, a reduction of wastewater and lower energy usage. PO is a core ingredient for the polyurethanes industry.
In 2003, Dow and BASF began their joint process research program to develop and commercialize the HPPO technology. This joint venture allowed the two companies to combine their innovation strengths and thereby commercialize the technology more rapidly than would have been possible by either partner alone. The HPPO joint venture partners broke ground for the production facility in September 2006.
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