Total Goes For Methanol Feedstock

Total has opened a demonstration plant that it calls the world's first to produce olefins from methanol at its petrochemicals complex in Feluy, Belgium. The $65 million facility will assess, on a quasi-industrial scale, the technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness of two integrated processes. First, a UOP/Hydro process converts methanol into ethylene, propylene, and heavier olefins. The heavy olefins in turn are converted into light olefins, particularly propylene, via a UOP/Total cracking process. All of the olefins are fed to the existing pilot polymerization unit in Feluy.