UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, has announced it will collaborate with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for developing catalytic processes for petrochemicals production.

UOP and KFUPM have signed a five-year agreement that will allow university professors and researchers to collaborate with company scientists on catalyst development and processes for aromatics production. Aromatics are a critical raw material used in the production of petrochemicals such as plastics and detergents.

“We look forward to this collaboration, which will enhance the university’s research and development capabilities, and will also support Saudi Arabia’s growing aromatics industry,” said Ben Christolini, vice president and chief technology officer of research and development for UOP.

“This agreement represents UOP’s ongoing commitment to our partnerships within the kingdom’s refining and petrochemical industry.”

Dr Sahel Abduljauwad, vice rector of applied research for KFUPM, observed: “The agreement symbolises continued cooperation between KFUPM and UOP to strengthen the university’s capabilities in catalyst and catalytic process development.”

Honeywell’s UOP is the world’s leading licensor of process technology for the production of aromatics and has licensed more than 725 individual process units for the production of aromatics to date.

In 2009, Honeywell opened a technical centre on the KFUPM campus as part of a broader initiative to build an integrated facility for three of its businesses at the university’s Dhahran Techno Valley (DTV) business cluster. In 2011, Honeywell Building Solutions, Honeywell Process Solutions and UOP will open a joint office to enhance existing relationships and partnerships with organisations such as the KFUPM, Saudi Aramco and Sabic, while being in close proximity to Honeywell’s many important customers in the energy industry.

Promotion of new businesses
The DTV business cluster was established by KFUPM to attract research and development centres of local and international companies and to promote new businesses. It is envisaged as a leading research and technology development nucleus with comprehensive business support.

UOP, headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois, US, is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, process plants, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical and gas processing industries. UOP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc and is part of Honeywell’s Speciality Materials strategic business group.

Honeywell International is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, NJ (US) Honeywell’s shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. 

KFUPM was officially established by Royal Decree in September 1963. Since that time, the university enrollment has grown to more than 8,000 students. It is located between the headquarters of Saudi Aramco and the Dhahran Air Base and on top of the geologic dome anticline where the first petroleum was discovered in Dammam Well No. 7, located about half a kilometer from the campus. A number of producing oil wells were at one time actually on university land.