The Catalyst Review December 2018 - 11

SPECIAL FEATURE
One of the features of having a wide product portfolio is that the sales revenue is balanced and can eventually compensate lower
sales in one product, for example due to the catalyst replacement cycle by customers, with higher sales in another product.
Important is product portfolio rejuvenation. In order to keep up with the high profitability targets set-up by Clariant, products
with low margins have to be replaced regularly by innovative products with higher margins. This, however, requires significant and
continuous R&D efforts.
Another characteristic of this business model is that it saves expensive R&D costs in process development. The development of
catalyst for new processes is rather done in partnership with process licensing companies, where each partner contributes with its
best competences. Important is here the fact to be recognized as having better R&D capabilities and competences in the specific
technology to be developed as competitors. Other factors, including financial commitment and long-term relationships, may be
important in the establishment of such a partnership.
Normally these types of partnerships imply reciprocal exclusivity, so that the risk for the company is that it could be excluded from
supplying catalyst to other process licensors. It is, therefore, very important in this business model to choose the most promising
technologies and partners in order to maintain an efficient R&D budget and be successful. Similarly, the same applies with custommade catalysts scale-up and development projects.
Another risk of a wide product portfolio includes the extensive manufacturing and R&D capabilities required to keep up with
technology and market developments in all products. Capital investments for new or plant expansions are limited and sometimes not
all products can receive all the resources required to improve competitiveness. Similarly, R&D catalyst projects are chosen on future
market expectations and need constant review.
Compared to BASF, another company with a broad catalyst portfolio, Clariant is not focused on the environmental catalysts and not in
FCC catalyst manufacturing. Curiously, Clariant is now expanding its polyolefin catalyst offering, whereas BASF has divested recently
to Grace. Clariant is stronger than BASF in petrochemical/chemical and syngas catalysts, although BASF has a better position in fine
chemicals, particularly with its precious metal catalyst. Overall, Clariant has less captive catalysts consumption than BASF and needs
to relay mostly on the merchant market.
Case Study 3: Integrated Catalyst and Process Licensing - UOP-Honeywell
UOP LLC is an US based company located in Des Plaines, Illinois. It is a
global supplier of catalysts, equipment, and technology licensors for the
petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production and major
manufacturing industries.

Figure 5: UOP catalyst sales 2007-2017 in million USD.

The origin of UOP goes back to 1941 when National Hydrocarbon Company
was founded with the scope to commercialize 12 patents hold by Jesse
Adams Dubbs. One of his inventions was about oil de-emulsification,
specifically to yield heavier fuel oil and asphalts, with gasoline as a byproduct!
Since 2005 UOP has been fully owned by the Honeywell Group when
the latter purchased the remaining 50% share from Dow Chemical for
Source: UOP annual reports and website, author estimates
$825 million. Today UOP is a worldwide organization with more than
5,000 people working in 30 offices and plants located in 19 countries. In 2017 UOP reported total revenue (i.e. including catalysts,
equipment and processes) of $2,753 million, up 11.5% from the previous year.20 Catalyst sales are estimated at $1,080 million.
Catalyst Product Portfolio and Sites

In the refining sector, UOP-Honeywell catalysts product portfolio includes Hydrocracking, FCC pre-treat, Hydrotreating (diesel,
kerosene, and naphtha), Reforming, Isomerization, and Merox treatment. In all these applications UOP offers a wide range of product
grades in order to cover major feedstocks and production outputs.
The petrochemical catalysts sector includes Aromatics, Olefins, and Detergents. Traditionally strong in aromatics (EB, cumene, BTX)
and detergents, UOP has significantly developed in recent years its position in the olefin sector with paraffin dehydrogenation and
MTO-methanol to olefin. UOP's dehydrogenation Oleflex™ technology uses a platinum-alumina-based catalyst whereas the MTO
technology uses SAPO-34 zeolite catalyst in a fluidised reactor and regenerator system.
In the renewable feedstock sector, UOP has introduced Honeywell Green Jet Fuel™ and Honeywell Green Diesel™ based on its own
and the Ecofining™ process technologies. UOP's catalyst and adsorbent are produced at nine manufacturing sites; four are located
The Catalyst Review

December 2018

The Catalyst Review December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Catalyst Review December 2018