Lummus Technology today announced an award for its butadiene extraction (BDE) technology from Korea Petrochemical Ind. Co. (KPIC). The BDE unit will be part of KPIC's Onsan Chemical Plant in Ulsan, Republic of Korea.

"With this award, KPIC is recognizing the value and experience that Lummus offers in terms of providing a butadiene extraction technology with the most environmentally-friendly design and the largest global market share," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "We look forward to strengthening our partnership with KPIC and supporting their production of value-added products at Onsan."

The project scope for this award includes the technology license, basic engineering and training services. Once complete, the unit will produce 146,000 MTA of butadiene, which will also lead to the production of more valuable products from existing C4 streams and generate feed for an existing olefins conversion unit.

Lummus has been licensing the BASF BDE technology since 1990. This technology, which is based on using the n-methylpyrrolidone solvent, is the preferred butadiene extraction technology worldwide.