Ten Revolutionary Innovations from UOP

UOP has made more than ten revolutionary innovations in the oil and petrochemical industries since the company's founding in 1914. These product and process innovations have had a profound impact on the U.S. economy, its competitive edge, and reputation as a worldwide technology leader.

UOP’s ten most noteworthy innovations are:

1. Dubbs Cracking Process - 1914

Critical to the production of gasoline for the emerging automotive market. The Dubbs thermal cracking process, and subsequent patent—named after its inventor, Jesse A. Dubbs--launched UOP.

2. High-Octane Aviation Gasoline - 1938

Essential to the Battle of Britain and Allied victory in WWII. UOP developed oligomerization, dehydrogenation, and alkylation technologies that produced 100-octane aviation fuel. This fuel gave the British Royal Air Force an important advantage over the German Luftwaffe at a critical early juncture of the war.

3. Platforming Process - 1949

The Platforming process, widely regarded as the single greatest discovery in petroleum refining, uses platinum as a catalyst for producing high-octane gasoline with remarkable efficiency. This process enabled the development of the modern high-compression automobile engine. The Platforming process revolutionized the petroleum industry and spawned the modern chemical era by allowing the high-yield production of aromatic compounds that are used for the production of synthetic fibers and plastics. The adoption of the Platforming process resulted in a fundamental change in raw materials for aromatics production, replacing the coal-tar industry. An additional benefit is the production of large quantities of gaseous hydrogen that refiners use to remove sulfur, a major pollutant, from transportation fuels. The Platforming process has been instrumental in reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. UOP’s Vladimir Haensel was awarded the Draper Prize, the most prestigious engineering award, for this pioneering development.

4. Synthetic Zeolites - 1953

Donald Breck and Robert Milton (at that time with the Molecular Sieve Division of Union Carbide, which later became part of UOP LLC) made an important discovery by inventing synthetic zeolites, which have been applied to major catalytic and adsorption technology systems. These zeolites later became the foundation of key technologies such as the Parex Process (described below) and spawned an entire segment of the gas processing industry. Synthetic zeolites are central to modern petrochemical and petroleum catalysts. In 1986, Edith Flanigen became the first woman to receive the Perkin Medal for her contributions in the area of synthetic zeolites and other molecular sieves.

5. Zeolites for Catalytic Cracking - 1957

Jule Rabo (at the time with the Molecular Sieve Division of Union Carbide, which later became part of UOP LLC) discovered that modified zeolites performed remarkably well in hydrocarbon conversion chemistry, most notably by cracking heavy crude oil components into gasoline. This discovery had a huge impact on gasoline production in the U.S. and has saved our country billions of barrels of oil; many additional catalytic cracking process improvements, such as riser cracking, are a direct result of this innovation. About 35% of the U.S. gasoline pool comes from this process. We conservatively estimate the net U.S. economic impact has been $300 billion.

6. Technologies for Lead Removal from Gasoline - Late 1960s

UOP developed two new technologies, which allowed the phase-out of lead from gasoline. First, Herman Bloch developed C₅-C₆paraffin isomerization technology, which converted inert n-paraffins of low-octane into very high-octane blending stock. This technology development required the invention of a solid superacid acid catalyst product and process. Concurrently, UOP developed a continuous reforming process, CCR Platforming Process, which pushed product octane levels past the previously unheard of level of 105.

These two product-and-process achievements allowed refiners to eliminate the lead anti-knock additive from gasoline while economically maintaining octane and other critical fuel requirements. With a viable technology alternative, the EPA was able to mandate lead phase out in 1972, which facilitated commercialization of the catalytic converter.

Many health studies show a more than 500% decrease in the amount of lead in the bloodstreams of children and adults in the U.S. and overseas. In the U.S. alone, lead phase-out reduced the amount of atmospheric lead by more than 500 million pounds each year.

7. Automotive Catalytic Converter - 1960s - 1975

UOP played a key role in the development of the first automotive catalytic converter to reduce tailpipe emissions in automobiles. Using what it learned from the Platforming process, UOP was able to use platinum to develop a durable, practical, and inexpensive catalyst. UOP worked closely with the State of California Air Resources Board and developed the Purzaust Process Auto Exhaust Treatment System accepted by Chrysler and installed on 1975 automobiles.

8. Biodegradable Detergents - 1968

UOP introduced a system of processes (Molex, Pacol, Detergent Alkylation Processes) which allowed the production of biodegradable detergents at an affordable price. These technologies replaced dodecylbenzene, a non-biodegradable material which caused foam on rivers and lakes and led to problems in sewage treatment. The new biodegradable detergent is naturally degraded by microbes in the environment and does not leave build-up as dirty foam on our rivers and lakes. This series of technologies has been continuously improved and today represents the state-of-the-art for linear alkylbenzene (LAB) production.

9. Parex Process for Production of Aromatics - 1970s

UOP and the Molecular Sieves Division of Union Carbide collaborated to develop the Parex process, which provides an economical source of p-xylene, a raw material for polyester. In developing nations such as China and India, which historically have consumed lower volumes of gasoline, Parex allows much of the petroleum resources to be converted to synthetic polyester fibers. This frees up farmland previously used to grow clothing fiber crops for food production.

10. Oleflex Process for Dehydrogenation of Light Paraffins to Olefins -1989-1991

The Oleflex process produces propylene and isobutylene through dehydrogenation of propane and isobutane, respectively. Propane and isobutane are inert molecules and, therefore, an underutilized natural resource. Today, the Oleflex process produces over 1.2 billion pounds of propylene per year and over 6 billion pounds of isobutylene per year. Although it represents an entirely new technology, it already accounts for 80% of the worldwide propane catalytic dehydrogenation capacity. The Oleflex process has allowed the efficient production of olefin intermediates critical to the reformulated gasoline and polymer markets.

These technologies illustrate a very important aspect of UOP’s work process: the synergy of chemistry and engineering. Developing this synergy requires close collaboration between engineers and scientists. As an example, the Parex process concept was originated by a chemical engineer, Donald Broughton. Commercialization required development of a complex algorithm and never-used special equipment. Initially, an available zeolite was utilized to perform the actual separation, but subsequent chemical research was required to produce more pure p-xylene using increasingly efficient zeolites.

UOP has continued to innovate and develop new product and process technologies throughout the end of the 20th century and into the present. Key accomplishments in the last decade confirm UOP’s position as a premier leader in technology development. These technologies continue to have great impact on society as they are implemented worldwide.