Dow Chemical Company and Solvay S.A. have entered into an agreement to create a joint venture for the construction of a hydrogen peroxide (HP) plant in Thailand. Scheduled to be operational in 2010, the new HP plant will serve as a raw material source for the manufacture of propylene oxide (PO). The HP plant will be the largest in the world, with a capacity of more than 330 kilotons per year of hydrogen peroxide at 100% concentration. The hydrogen peroxide supplying the process is based on Solvay’s high-yield hydrogen peroxide technology.
In addition, Dow and BASF AG are advancing negotiations for the construction of a world-scale 390 kilotons per year PO manufacturing facility in Map Ta Phut, Thailand. The new plant would use the hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) jointly developed by Dow and BASF. “This project would expand our successful cooperation with Dow and Solvay to deploy this innovative HPPO technology in Asia,” said Jacques Delmoitiez, president of BASF’s polyurethanes division.