Siluria Technologies, a pioneer in the commercial production of fuels and chemicals made from clean and abundant natural gas, and The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company, announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement.
The agreement will combine the companies' respective technologies and expertise into an optimized and integrated package which Linde would license to the petrochemicals industry for both revamps or expansions at existing ethylene plants and for new world scale ethylene plants.
"We are extremely pleased to enter into this partnership. Linde is clearly one of the leading technology and EPC service providers to the global ethylene industry. This partnership strengthens our technology platform and enables a world class go-to-market licensing strategy," commented Andrea Redford, director of EPC partnering and capital projects at Siluria.
Over the past six months, Linde has completed an extensive technical and economic diligence process on Siluria's oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) technology, which catalytically converts methane directly to ethylene. The success of this joint diligence effort resulted in the formation of this strategic relationship. The companies have formed joint teams, which will fully integrate the companies' respective technologies and collaborate through the final scale-up and demonstration of the OCM technology at the Braskem demonstration plant Siluria is constructing in La Porte, Texas.
"Our technology platform can enable a diverse set of opportunities ranging from solutions to flared gas, to large scale gas monetization, to specific industry applications such as refining and LNG terminals. However, our top two priorities are the ethylene industry and the Midstream or gas processing industry. So establishing this partnership with the top technology provider in the ethylene business at such an important time in the industry is a great fit for us," said Siluria CEO Ed Dineen. "We look forward to a mutually highly beneficial long term partnership with Linde."
"The oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) has been ranking for decades as the most ambitious innovation target in the field of ethylene technology. Linde is a leading player in this market and is fully committed to work with Siluria at the aim to broaden the feed-stock slate for ethylene production," said Professor Dr Aldo Belloni, Linde AG executive board member.
The companies expect to be offering the technologies to the broader ethylene industry in the second half of 2015. Siluria is currently engaged in feasibility studies with selected operating companies in the ethylene industry focused on the initial commercial deployments. "For Linde this exciting technology opens new business opportunities and is another contributor to our leading position in olefin technologies," said Dr. Samir Serhan, managing director of Linde Engineering.
About Siluria
Siluria Technologies is pioneering the commercial production of fuels and chemicals made from clean, abundant natural gas. Siluria's break-through OCM process technology is believed to be the first commercially viable process to directly convert methane to ethylene. Siluria's second process technology can convert ethylene to liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. This potentially enables natural gas to replace petroleum as the worldwide basis for drop-in fuels, chemicals and plastics. Siluria's revolutionary catalyst technologies uniquely combine nanomaterials, biotechnology and chemical engineering, to convert an abundant, ubiquitous, and inexpensive feedstock into high value, drop-in fuels and chemicals using processes that can be seamlessly integrated into existing industry infrastructure. www.siluria.com
About Linde
In the 2013 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 16.655 bn, making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 63,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment -- in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development. For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com