Scientific Design’s Ethylene Oxide/Ethylene Glycol (EO/EG) technology provides the safest and most efficient means for producing high purity EO and/or fiber-grade monoethylene glycol (MEG). These products are used in many important derivative processes (several licensed by Scientific Design) to make a wide variety of industrial and consumer goods such as polyester fibers, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, and antifreeze consuming about 15% of the world wide production of ethylene. In addition to superior product quality, Scientific Design’s EO/EG technology in combination with its high performance SynDox® catalysts.

Ethanol increasingly is used as feedstock for the production of ethylene. This “green” ethylene is then used to make other major downstream derivatives such as polyethylene, ethylene dichloride, styrene, ethylbenzene, and others. Scientific Design offers both the process technology and SynDol® Catalyst used for the highly efficient dehydration of ethanol to ethylene.

Scientific Design’s fully integrated Ethanol to EO/EG Process is a green alternative to using petroleum-based ethylene. By integrating the ethanol dehydration unit into the EO/EG process the overall capital costs are significantly reduced. Moreover, the process is designed to take advantage of unique heat integration opportunities.

The first commercial plant using this integrated technology was started up in 1989 in India and is currently producing green monoethylene glycol used as the bio-renewable component of partially bio-based PET. Scientific Design’s success in licensing its green EO/EG process continues with a number of new plants coming on stream over the next few years.

Scientific Designs alkoxylation process technology offers a highly efficient means of producing surfactants and polyglycols and can also produce polyether polyols with a few additional process steps. Alkoxylated fatty alcohols, fatty amines, alkyl phenols, cellulose, poly (propylene glycol) are used in surfactants, foaming agents, dispersants, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.

Scientific Designs alkoxylation technology has gained worldwide acceptance as a leading design for its safety and productivity. The unique reactor configuration offers numerous advantages over the conventional stirred-tank reactor including less catalyst usage, milder operating conditions and higher reaction rates which all result in improved productivity. In addition, Scientific Design’s equipment improvements allow greater capacity and product range, ensure high quality and excellent color, and result in low by-product and residual ethylene oxide/propylene oxide (EO/PO) content.

SD’s alkoxylation technology has been licensed to more than 50 plants over the last 50 years with multiple SD-introduced improvements over this period.

Scientific Design’s technology offers a proven, safe, simple and very flexible process for the production of ethanolamines. These products are used to make herbicides, insecticides, plasticizing agents, soaps, cosmetics, and gas treating chemicals. Scientific Design plants have the operating flexibility to produce a wide range of product distributions from one rich in monoethanolamine (MEA) to one rich in triethanolamine (TEA). They have the advantage of being started up almost entirely from the safety of a control room with minimum operating staff.

Scientific Design’s technology offers a proven, safe, flexible, catalytic process for the production of ethylene glycol ethers. The plant has the operating flexibility to produce a range of products depending on the alcohol feedstock and operating variables. End uses for these products range from hydraulic fluids, detergents, solvents (paints and lacquers), extractants, and lube applications.

Polyether polyols can be made using Scientific Design’s ethoxylation / propoxylation process with a few additional process steps. Polyether polyols are a key component of polyurethanes which are used to make rigid and flexible foams, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers.

Scientific Design’s ethoxylation/propoxylation technology has gained worldwide acceptance as a leading design for its safety and productivity. The unique reactor configuration offers numerous advantages over the conventional stirred-tank reactor including less catalyst usage, milder operating conditions and higher reaction rates which all result in improved productivity. In addition, Scientific Design’s equipment improvements allow greater capacity and product range, ensure high quality and excellent color, and result in low by-product and residual ethylene oxide/propylene oxide (EO/PO) content.

Scientific Design’s technology offers a safe and highly efficient means of converting n-butane to maleic anhydride (MAN). The plant can be customized to produce a pure, final product in solid form or a high quality molten intermediate which can be used to feed MAN derivative plants such as 1,4-butanediol (BDO), tetrahydrofuran (THF), and γ-butyrolactone (GBL). Maleic anhydride is used primarily in the formation of unsaturated polyester resins for use in boats, autos, trucks, buildings, piping, and electrical goods, and its derivatives are used in pharmaceuticals, adhesives, engineered plastics, and coatings.

Scientific Design is a Global Leader in the Development and Licensing of proprietary processes for the production of Ethylene Oxide (EO) and Ethylene Glycol (EO/EG), EO derivatives, Polyols, and Maleic Anhydride. Produced by our technologies, these chemicals are the main building blocks for a multitude of end products including polyesters, plastic bottles, antifreeze, and a variety of consumer products.