Representatives of Uhde, Evonik and a delegation from the Chinese province of Jilin have signed a non-exclusive license for the construction and operation of an HPPO (hydrogen peroxide propylene oxide) plant at Jilin in north-east China. Uhde's scope of services will include key parts of the engineering design, supply of equipment and plant erection and commissioning support.

The licensing agreement will allow a joint venture which to be formed between Jilin Shenhua and Jilin North Chemical Company (JNCC) to build a plant for the production of 300,000 tons of propylene oxide based on a process developed by Uhde and Evonik. Propylene oxide is a raw material for polyurethane foams, which are used for insulation in the building industry, for upholstering comfortable furniture and for automotive lightweight construction.

The advantages of the HPPO process lie in the much lower investment volume, which therefore makes the process more cost-effective than conventional propylene oxide production processes. The HPPO process is also extremely environment-friendly: it has a high yield and apart from water only negligible amounts of by-products are produced. The world's first HPPO plant came on-stream in Ulsan, South Korea, in 2008.