Dow METEOR™ RETRO Ethylene Oxide Catalyst has been delivering increased plant performance with reduced carbon emissions and energy intensity at PETRONAS’ world-scale ethylene oxide plant
 

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 (Bernama) -- Dow today signed an agreement with PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols, a subsidiary of PETRONAS’ petrochemical arm and Malaysia’s leading chemicals producer, PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad, to collaborate on a carbon project at PETRONAS’ world-scale ethylene oxide (“EO”) production facility in support of the Dow-International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Official Carbon Partnership. Together, Dow and PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the operations of PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols EO plant.  EO is one of the world’s most important chemical raw materials, essential in consumer product manufacturing, including textiles, detergents, insulation and more.
 
PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols reduced its operating costs at its Kertih, Terengganu, Malaysia, EO plant when it deployed a higher performance Dow proprietary EO catalyst. The more effective catalyst technology increased selectivity to EO and process reliability while reducing CO₂ emissions and energy consumption. As part of the carbon project, Dow and PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols will be working together to quantify and obtain third-party verification of the climate benefits following the methodology of the Dow Climate Solutions Framework.  This will help enable a positive climate legacy and balance the operational carbon footprint of the IOC. 
 
“The goal of the Dow-IOC partnership is to advance the adoption of better technologies and processes and demonstrate resource efficiency and more sustainable practices across different industries and markets,” said Dr. Nicoletta Piccolrovazzi, global technology & sustainability director, Dow Olympic & Sports Solutions. “This first collaboration is a significant milestone for our program within the industrial market and we celebrate PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols as a trailblazer.  We hope this inspires other plants to do the same and work with Dow to advance the economic and environmental efficiency of their production processes. We look forward to seeing the many benefits that will stem from this partnership.”
 
Elaborating on this agreement, PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Sazali Hamzah said, “Our participation in this carbon project is in line with our commitment towards improvement in operational efficiency while reducing environmental footprint. We have seen enhanced results from the change in catalyst, not only in operational excellence due to the higher catalyst selectivity resulting in higher production, but also in cost savings from reduced energy consumption. We are determined to continuously minimise our impact to the environment by adopting best practices for energy consumption through leveraging on leading edge technology.”
 
PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols’ facility in Malaysia is Dow’s first customer to use its state-of-the-art METEOR™ EO-RETRO 2000 Catalyst (“MR2000 Catalyst”). The catalyst is part of Dow’s high selectivity family of EO catalysts which improves the performance of the EO production process while reducing energy consumption.  The MR2000 Catalyst, which is being successfully used in both Dow licensed and non-Dow licensed EO process plants, has a higher selectivity to EO converting more of the raw material ethylene into the desired EO product and therefore reducing the formation of the undesirable byproduct CO₂. In a typical world-scale EO plant, it is estimated that the MR2000 Catalyst enables emission reductions comparable to taking more than 10,000 cars off the road annually.
 
Faye J. Miller, product director for licensing & catalyst,  Dow Industrial Solutions, said, “Energy intensive industrial processes that create direct carbon emissions offer excellent opportunities for transformative technologies to make an impact on a plant’s sustainability profile.  Dow’s METEOR™ RETRO family of EO catalysts enables plants using any EO process technology to realize operating cost reductions while delivering an increase in plant performance, showing that advantaged catalysts can help plants to improve both business and environmental performance.”
 
This carbon project agreement between Dow and PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols is among the first of many similar joint efforts that will result from the Collaborative Blueprint for unlocking carbon reductions announced last year by Dow. The Blueprint underpins the Dow-IOC Official Carbon Partnership, initiated in 2017 to encourage organizations outside the Olympic movement to collaborate on projects that lead to verified climate benefits while catalyzing change across value chains.
 
For more information on Dow’s sustainability programs and 2018 Carbon Report, visit https://www.dow.com/en-us/sports/sustainability.  For more information about PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad, visit http://www.petronaschemicals.com.my.
 
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines one of the broadest technology sets in the industry with asset integration, focused innovation and global scale to achieve profitable growth and become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company. Dow’s portfolio of performance materials, industrial intermediates and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for our customers in high-growth segments, such as packaging, infrastructure and consumer care. Dow operates 113 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 37,000 people. Dow delivered pro forma sales of approximately $50 billion in 2018. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.
 
About PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad
PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad is the leading integrated chemicals producer in Malaysia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. It operates a number of world class production sites, which are fully vertically integrated from feedstock to downstream end-products. With a total combined production capacity of over 12 million metric tons per annum (mtpa), it is involved primarily in manufacturing, marketing and selling a diversified range of chemical products, including olefins, polymers, fertilisers, methanol and other basic chemicals and derivative products. Listed on Bursa Malaysia and with three decades of experience in the chemicals industry, PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad is established as part of the PETRONAS Group to maximise value from Malaysia’s natural gas resources.
 
PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad is one of the top 10 companies in the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia (F4GBM) Index, out of 200 largest companies ranked by market capitalisation. It is committed to ensuring that its business practices are in line with globally recognised standards for Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) practices.


SOURCE : Dow and PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name : Linda Lim                                                      
Dow                                                              
Tel : +65.9626.7662                                              
Email : llim2@dow.com                                               

Name : Nur Akmal Ahmad
PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad
Tel : +60.3.2392.7356
Fax :  +60.3.2331.3008 
Email : nurakmal.ahmad@petronas.com

Name : Beth Crisafi Smith
G&S Business Communications for Dow                                             
Tel : +1.212.697.2600                
Email : bcrisafi@gscommunications.com

--BERNAMA