New technology for the production of Linear Alpha Olefins (LAO) has been developed by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and leading German engineering company, Linde AG, Sabic announced recently.

The partners selected the trade name of a- Sablin for the technology. The process uses ethylene as feedstock for a one-stage homogenous reaction, Sabic said.

"The LAOs produced in the 'a - Sablin' reactor are fed to a series of conventional separation columns to obtain the desired cuts with the required quality specifications. For this new process, the high-selectivity one-stage reactor produces high-purity products that do not require the installation of any product-polishing steps such as super-fractionation-distillation towers for removal of side products," Sabic said in a statement.

It said the new technology was developed through an extensive joint research and development programme launched in 1994 by the two technology partners using different bench scale reactors as well as pilot plants built at Sabic's R&T site in Riyadh to demonstrate and optimise the technology.

Announcing the new technology at the K2001 Plastics Show in Dusseldorf, Germany, Sabic vice chairman and managing director Mohammad Al-Mady said: "This technology is the latest breakthrough for our R&T arm which has produced over half a dozen developments over the last five years. The investment we are making in this area is starting to pay dividends and follows hot on the heels of the pioneering acetic acid technology announced last year."

He continued: "By exploring these new technologies and carrying them into commercial production, Sabic is fulfilling its role in boosting the Saudi economy. LAO production will provide a good opportunity for development of the downstream detergent and additive industries, so diversifying the economy further."

Dr Abdulrahman Al-Ubaid, executive vice president, Sabic R&T, added: "(The new) technology possesses many features such as low investment and production costs in addition to product-distribution flexibility. Based on market demands, the process parameters can be adjusted to maximise the production of light or heavy LAOs."

Sabic said it would build the first plant of its kind using the technology to produce 150,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of LAO at its new wholly owned affiliate - United (The United Petrochemical Company) in Jubail on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia.

Besides LAO production, it will accommodate major ethylene and ethylene glycol (EG) plants. A new 800,000 tpy polyethylene plant is also being built at its neighbour, Petrokemya (Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company), another wholly owned SABIC affiliate. The partners will license the new technology to potential producers.

LAOs have a variety of applications. Light cuts such as Butene-1, Hexane-1 and Octene-1 are used as comonomers in the production of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). Medium cuts such as Decene-1, Dodecene-1 and Tetradecene-1 are used for synthetic oil, detergents and shampoos. Heavy cuts, Hexadecene-1, Octadecene-1 and Eicosene-1 are used in lube oil additives, surfactants, oil-field chemicals and wax-product applications.