Clariant, a sustainability-focused specialty chemical company, announced that it has signed a 10-year agreement with SECCO Petrochemicals to provide CLARITY Prime digital services. The new customer will use the AI-powered catalyst performance monitoring platform to enhance production efficiency at its 900-KTA ethylene plant in Shanghai, Jinshan District.

CLARITY Prime was previously only available to customers of Clariant’s ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen catalysts. The service was recently extended to also include ethylene producers. CLARITY and CLARITY Prime services are developed with Navigance, a Clariant digital solutions company.

Gene Mueller, VP and Head of Ethylene at Clariant, commented, "We are very pleased to have secured a long-term agreement with SECCO to support their ethylene business through our cutting-edge CLARITY Prime platform. The partnership expands our digital services footprint in China and reinforces our commitment to bringing innovation to the market – one of the world's most important regions for petrochemical production.”

Yang Ying, Ethylene Production Manager at SECCO Petrochemicals, added, "We are constantly seeking novel solutions to enhance our operational efficiency and maintain our competitive edge. Implementing CLARITY Prime aligns perfectly with our digital transformation strategy. We look forward to the operational improvements and long-term benefits the technology partnership will bring to our Jinshan facility over the next decade.”

Established in 2001, Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Co. is a major Chinese petrochemicals producer with an annual output of approximately 4.2 million tons. The company’s single-line ethylene cracking unit is one of China’s largest, producing over 1 million tons of ethylene per annum. SECCO is a joint venture between Sinopec, BP, and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical. BP’s stake is now held by INEOS.

Combining powerful AI with specialist support, CLARITY Prime allows ethylene producers, like SECCO, to fine-tune catalyst performance for improved plant reliability, safety, and profitability.