Honeywell's Performance Materials and Technologies division has opened a new plant at Zhangjiagang City in China's Jiangsu Province to produce state-of the-art catalysts used in the Olex process developed by its UOP division.

In addition to the catalysts, the site will produce adsorbent materials used in applications including refining and petrochemical production and natural gas processing. Honeywell also is planning to produce materials for other fast-growing technologies at the site.

"This investment will support our growth while helping China meet growing domestic and global demand for propylene," said Darius Adamczyk, president and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies.

Historically, Honeywell points out, 70% of global propylene output was derived from petroleum as a byproduct of ethylene. In the wake of the shale gas boom, US ethylene producers have increasingly switched to using ethane feedstock derived from natural gas, which produces only a negligible amount of propylene, however, and the corresponding shift to facilities producing on-purpose propylene has caused a propylene supply gap.

Oleflex, the US company claims, is the leading technology for converting propane to propylene. Compared with alternative technologies, it offers higher yields, lower production costs and higher investment returns, with the smallest environmental footprint.

Over the past four years, Honeywell has licensed the technology to 30 producers globally, including 25 in China. The first two of these new plants went on stream in China last year.