UOP LLC - Who We Are
For more than 90 years, UOP LLC has been a leader
in developing and commercializing technology for license to the oil
refining, petrochemical and gas processing industries. Starting with its
first breakthrough technology – the Dubbs thermal cracking process,
which made possible a variety of important oil-derived products – and
continuing to the present day, UOP has contributed processes and
technology that have led to advances in such diverse industries as motor
fuels, plastics, detergents, synthetic fibers and food preservatives.
UOP is the largest process licensing organization in the world,
providing more than 70 licensed processes for the hydrocarbon processing
industries.
UOP currently holds more than 2,500 active
patents as a result of its dedicated research and development
commitment. As a percentage of revenue, UOP invests three to four times
more in research and development than any other company in the industry.
UOP corporate offices are in Des Plaines, Illinois, USA (a northwest suburb of
Chicago). The company employs nearly 3,000 people in its facilities in
the United States, Europe and Asia.
The petroleum refining industry is the largest market for UOP technology, products and
services. UOP processes are used throughout the industry to produce
clean-burning, high-performance fuels from a variety of hydrocarbon
products. For example, for 60 years our Platforming process has been
used to upgrade low-octane naphtha to high-octane unleaded gasoline, a
higher performance fuel. Other technologies convert mercaptans to
innocuous disulfides, remove sulfur from fuel, and recover high-purity
hydrogen from impure gas streams.
Technologies
developed by UOP are almost entirely responsible for providing the
fundamental raw materials – benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) – of the
aromatics-based petrochemicals industry. These products form the basis
of such familiar products as synthetic rubber, polyester fibers,
polystyrene foam, glues and pharmaceuticals. UOP technologies produce
such olefins as ethylene and propylene, used in a range of products from
contact lenses to food packaging. UOP has been active in the development
of synthetic detergent chemicals since 1947, and today almost half of
the world’s soft (biodegradable) detergents are produced through
UOP-developed processes.
UOP's gas
processing technologies are used for separating, drying and treating
gases produced from oil and gas wells and atmospheric gases.
UOP is the world’s
leading producer of synthetic molecular sieve adsorbents used in
purifying natural gas, separating paraffins and drying air through
cryogenic separation. Molecular sieves also are used in insulating
glass, refrigeration systems, air brake systems, automotive mufflers and
deodorizing products.
UOP
provides engineering designs for its processes, and produces key
mechanical equipment for some of its processes. It also offers project
management, cost estimation, procurement and facility-design services.
UOP’s staff of engineers provides customers with a wide range of
services, including start-up assistance, operating technical services
such as process monitoring and optimization, training of customer
personnel, catalyst and product testing, equipment inspection, and
project management.
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