Iran obtains technology to turn methanol to propylene
Iran’s petrochemical industry has attained a major achievement by obtaining the know-how to turn methanol into propylene (MPT), a technology which authorities say was previously ring-fenced by two countries.
The development came on Thursday during the inauguration of a semi-industrial petchem plant in southern Iranian port city of Mahshahr where some 120,000 metric tons of propylene will be produced each year from methanol and independently of the original feedstock.
Seyyed Omid Shahidinia, a local Oil Ministry official said during the inauguration ceremony that the commercial use of MPT had been monopolized by two countries which he would not identify.
“(they) would not let us have the technology due to the sanctions, and now Iran is the third country which has obtained this technical expertise,” said Shahidinia, making a reference to American sanctions that have sought to hamper Iran’s efforts to develop its energy sector.
Concurrent with the inauguration, Oil Ministry officials in Tehran awarded a contract to Fateh Petrochemicals for commercial use of MPT in Iran.
The contract, which is related to the petchem plant in Mahshahr, would enable Iran to significantly increase its propylene output in the upcoming years, according to Behzad Mohammadi, a deputy oil minister and CEO of Ian’s largest company in the sector, namely the National Petrochemical Company (NPC).
Mohammadi said Iran had eyed a propylene output of two million tons per year for 2025 but he insisted that the figure would increase to 4 million tons by 2026 through implementing various schemes including the use of MTP technology.
The senior official said Iran’s current propylene output is nearly one million tons per year, adding that total production capacity for all petrochemical products has reached around 70 million tons per year.
Mohammadi said actual petchem output in Iran reached 30 million tons worth $15 billion in the year to March 2020 of which some $10 billion worth of products were sold to foreign customers
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