ALPHA - set to cut MMA manufacturing costs by 40%

18 Mar 2004 Southampton, UK

After extensive pilots and tests over the last 2 years, Lucite International has reached the commercialisation stage of its proprietary technology for the production of Methyl Methacrylate (MMA), known as Alpha. Both cash cost and total cost of MMA production will be reduced by 40% with this revolutionary and simple two-stage patented process.

Alpha will liberate the MMA industry from its historical dependence on the raw materials acetone, HCN and isobutylene, which are by products from other “primary” processes. Alpha uses ethylene, methanol and carbon monoxide, which are all readily available and will not limit Alpha’s unique scale potential - MMA plants of 200 kte plus are on the horizon with Alpha technology!

Lucite International is evaluating a number of locations and will announce its decision in the summer of 2004 for the first plant to be on-stream by 2008. The choice of location will not only be founded on the economics of plant 1 but also the longer term needs of an aggressive exploitation strategy for Alpha technology.

Ian Lambert, CEO of Lucite International, sees this as the next step in growing, supporting and capturing the acrylics market with increased output, rapidly rising productivity and efficiency “Global demand for acrylics is growing rapidly. We are already building our MMA plant in China, which will be fully operational in the summer of 2005. This will be followed by the first world-scale Alpha plant.”

Alpha produces benign waste products – water, which is readily bio treatable and heavy esters, which are fuelled to raise steam - so it is non-hazardous and significantly more environmentally friendly than traditional manufacturing processes.

It operates at mild conditions, involves no toxic or corrosive chemicals giving high process yields and very low maintenance costs in comparison with existing technologies. Alpha is not exclusively for MMA manufacture, but has potential for being used in the manufacture of other major chemical products.

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