L(U(M-|M]U)S ENGINEERS AND CONSTRUCTORS FOR INDUSTRY N e w York 1 7 , Ν . Υ.
385 Madison Avenue
WORLDS FIRST COMMERCIAL SCALE SHELL PROCESS ETHYLENE OXIDE PLANT ON STREAM Plant for Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation Reaches Capacity Within 2 Weeks of Start-up T h e first commercial scale plant to use the Shell Development Company's direct oxidation process for m a k i n g e t h y l e n e o x i d e i s on s t r e a m for Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation at Geismar, La. This is t h e first of three ethylene oxide plants being designed, engineered and constructed by T h e Lummus Company, each with an annual capacity equivalent to 60,000,000 lbs. of ethylene oxide. Most of Wyandotte's oxide will be converted by thermal hydration to ethylene glycol for industrial and antifreeze uses. The process units at "Wyandotte consist of an ethylene oxide reaction section, an ethylene oxide purification section, an ethylene glycol section and an oxygen generation section. Non-process units provided by "Lunimus include: tankage and yard transfer facilities, cooling and fire water system, an administration building, change and gate house, warehouse and shop building, and a garage and firehouse. In the Shell Process for making ethylene oxide, ethylene is reacted with oxygen over a silver cata lyst in a fixed bed reactor. The Shell innovations which have been thor oughly tested in pilot p l a n t s offer sé^SSÏHïfcteworthy advantages. Among these are hrgfevields and virtual elimination o f the waste disposal i^roblems encountered in the chlorohydrin process. The plant uses oxygen, which requires less capital investment than the use of air. The other two plants currently under construction by Lummus are for Calcasieu Chemical Corpora-
tion, at Lake Charles, La. and for Petrochemicals Ltd., one of the Royal Dutch Shell group of companies, at Partington, England. Both are scheduled to go on stream later this year. Lummus is p r o u d of the initial performance at Wyandotte in placing the Shell Process into full scale application. These ethylene oxide plants are 3 more of the over 800 plants designed, engineered a n d c o n s t r u c t e d by T h e L u m m u s C o m p a n y throughout the world, in the last 50 years, for the process industries. Lunimus is ready to place this experience at your disposal. T H E L U M M U S COMPANY, 385 Madison Avenue, New York 17, Ν. Υ., Houston, Chicago, Washing ton, D . C , Montreal, London, Paris, The Hague, Caracas, M a r a c a i b o . Engineering Development Center· Newark, New Jersey. OCT.
13,
1958
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