TechnipFMC (Houston; www.technipfmc.com) announced that it has signed its first Eipcerol Technology License Agreement with Meghmani Finechem Ltd. (MFL) in India. The plant will produce 50,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of epichlorohydrin from glycerin, a renewable feedstock derived from natural sources. The unit will be integrated into the Chlor Alkali and Derivative Complex in Dahej, Gujarat, India, to serve the growing domestic epichlorohydrin market. MFL will be the first to manufacture epichlorohydrin in India with an expected plant start-up of 2021.
Epichlorohydrin is a compound used to produce epoxy resins. Its main applications include corrosion protection coatings in the industrial, automotive, and packaging industries and as composites used in the aerospace and wind mill industries.
This first project using the Epicerol technology will be managed from TechnipFMC’s center in Lyon, France, the reference center for bio-sourced chemicals technologies. Based on renewable glycerol feedstocks, Epicerol is the most sustainable ECH process in terms of CO2 emissions and process environmental performance, according to TechnipFMC. Compared to a fossil-based route, it allows a ten-fold reduction in water consumption, a 50% reduction in the consumption of non-renewable resources and a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.
Stan Knez, President of TechnipFMC Process Technology, commented: “EPICEROL offers a cost-effective process to produce epichlorohydrin, with a reduced carbon footprint compared to traditional propylene-based processes. This breakthrough technology produces fewer emissions, effluents or harmful by-products, making it one of the most environment friendly processes possible.”