LyondellBasell was awarded a $4.5 million (MM) grant by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a catalyst-assisted technology to improve the energy efficiency of producing ethylene from ethane gas while emitting fewer greenhouse gases.
The grant was part of a $54 MM initiative by the DOE to partner with the private sector in an attempt to increase energy efficiency and reduce the costs of US manufacturing. LyondellBasell was one of 13 award winners.
"Access to low-cost ethane from shale gas over the past three years has changed the competitive position of the US chemical industry," said Tim Roberts, LyondellBasell''s Americas senior vice president for olefins and polyolefins. "We have an opportunity to further this advantage through greater energy efficiencies in our manufacturing processes."
LyondellBasell, in collaboration with Quantiam Technologies Inc. and BASF Qtech Inc., will develop the new energy-saving technology in a three-part program over the next three years.
It will build upon earlier-generation ethane- and naphtha-fed catalytic coating technology for steam crackers developed by BASF Qtech, by extending the benefits to ethane and natural gas liquid-fed steam crackers.
The estimated cost share for this project, in addition to the DOE grant, is $2.2 MM.
Below is a list of the other award winners along with the amount of the grant for each project:
- Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. – Allentown, PA - $1,200,000
- American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) – Salt Lake City, UT - $7,120,000
- Delphi Automotive Systems, LLC – Rochester, NY - $3,700,000
- General Motors LLC – Warren, MI - $2,672,124
- MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. – St. Peters, MO - $3,680,000
- MIT – Cambridge, MA - $1,000,000
- PolyPlus Battery Company – Berkeley, CA - $8,999,920
- Research Triangle Institute – Research Triangle Park, NC - $4,800,000
- Teledyne Scientific and Imaging – Thousand Oaks, CA - $2,110,000
- The Dow Chemical Company – Midland, MI - $9,000,000
- The University of Utah – Salt Lake City, Utah - $1,460,285
- Third Wave Systems, Inc. – Minneapolis, MN - $4,069,882