TPC Group Inc. (Houston; www.tpcgrp.com) and UOP LLC, a Honeywell company have announced that the two companies have entered into an agreement for UOP to be the exclusive licensor of TPC Group’s proprietary OXO-D technology, which is used to produce on-purpose butadiene, a key ingredient for making synthetic rubber.
The two companies will immediately begin working together to license TPC Group’s proprietary OXO-D technology, which converts butene to butadiene for the production of synthetic rubber. The existing OXO-D technology is the basis for TPC’s current on-purpose butadiene project in commercial development now. The two companies will jointly develop further enhancements to the OXO-D process.The technology effort is focused on the direct conversion of butene, a byproduct of refining processes, into butadiene, a key ingredient in the production of synthetic rubber used in tire and other applications.