Long-standing partners Honeywell UOP and Wison Engineering have agreed to jointly provide methanol-to-olefin (MTO) technologies and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to customers outside China. The agreement combines Honeywell UOP’s advanced process technologies with Wison’s EPC capabilities.

As a leading service provider to the Chinese chemical industry, Beijing-based Wison Engineering is developing opportunities for the technology, particularly in the country’s Belt and Road Initiative, a development strategy to improve infrastructure and broaden trade along the historic trading route that links China through central Asia to western Europe.

“MTO is an innovative technology that enables coal- and gas-rich regions in Russia, central Asia, the Middle East, southeast Asia, and as far as Europe and Africa, to make plastics from their own coal and natural gas,” commented Li Yansheng, chief engineer at Wison Engineering.

According to Honeywell, global demand for ethylene and propylene is growing at an annual rate of 4-5%, driven by strong demand for plastics and chemicals. Since 2011, the Illinois-based company has announced nine MTO licenses in China. Wison was the first manufacturer to license Honeywell UOP’s Advanced MTO process. It has been the EPC contractor for seven MTO plants in China and the licensor for the olefins recovery section of these units.