Alcohols

Johnson Matthey offers oxo-alcohol processes and a complete range of catalysts suitable for oxo-alcohol manufacture.

Licensing

Johnson Matthey licenses its DAVY™ oxo alcohols process based on LP Oxo^SM - the world’s leading technology for manufacturing oxo alcohols from olefins.

LP Oxo, developed in partnership with The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), offers licensees a combination of superior catalyst systems and a simple flowsheet, which results in few equipment items, low investment cost, and high feedstock efficiency in a plant that is environmentally compliant, reliable, easy to operate, and maintain.

Contact us for further information on our oxo-alcohol processes.

Catalysts

Johnson Matthey also offer the complete range of catalysts for the manufacture of oxo-alcohols via a number of process routes, using both base metal and pgm catalysts.

• Reforming catalysts for generation of synthesis gas
• Purification of olefins and hydrogen
• Fixed bed hydrogenation catalysts for liquid and vapour phase operations
• Fixed bed liquid phase polishing catalysts
• Catalysts for selective hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes
• Catalysts for downstream applications such as amination and neo pentyl glycol.

Johnson Matthey licenses its DAVY BDO process technology.

Johnson Matthey first used the vapour phase hydrogenation process for the hydrogenation of aldehydes to produce oxo alcohols and then decided to extend the application of this technology into the hydrogenation of esters as well as aldehydes. In total, the vapour phase hydrogenation process has been used for the conversion of four different esters to alcohols or diols including butanediol, tetrahydrofuran and gamma butyrolactone.

Tetrahydrofuran (THF) is used in the manufacture of elastomeric polyurethane fibres such as SPANDEX™. Gamma butyrolactone (GBL) is a common solvent and reagent in chemistry and is used as an aroma compound, as a stain remover, as a superglue remover and as a paint stripper.

Contact us for further information on the DAVY butanediol licensed process.

Conventionally, the commercial propylene glycol production route is propylene-based, through propylene oxide, and therefore sensitive to the price of petroleum and other associated products. There is however an alternative manufacturing route for propylene glycol production via glycerline (a by-product of bio-diesel production from vegetable oil).

The DAVY propylene glycol process reacts glyercine over a heterogeneous catalyst with hydrogen at moderate conditions. The advantage of this DAVY technology is high selectivity to the desired product.

Contact us for further information on the DAVY propylene glycol process.