Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com), through a subsidiary, has signed a longterm contract to supply industrial gases to Nanjing Jinling Huntsman New Materials Co., Ltd., a joint venture (JV) between Sinopec Jinling and Huntsman Corp. (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.huntsman.com). Jinling Huntsman will use the gases to help build a state-of-the-art propylene oxide (PO) and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) plant located in Nanjing, East China. PO is a high-quality intermediate compound used to make polyurethane materials, and MTBE is a clean fuel additive.
Praxair will construct its new air separation unit (ASU), with a capacity of 900 tons per day of oxygen, in the Phase II area of Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park (NCIP), a leading, state-level interconnected chemical production facility. Praxair will also build a pipeline in the park to help meet the industrial gas requirements of Jinling Huntsman and other customers throughout NCIP. The ASU is expected to start up in 2016.