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Grace ActivCat® Catalyst Technology Partners to Develop Innovative Metallocene Polyethylene Resins 

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Grace’s ActivCat® catalyst technology has made a breakthrough, in partnership with Zhejiang Petrochemical Co (ZPC), with the first large-scale UNIVATION® polyethylene (PE) process technology licensee in China, to develop on-spec metallocene PE film and Polyethylene of Raised Temperature (PE-RT) resins for packaging and pipe applications.

Grace was selected to collaborate with ZPC in early 2022 on the metallocene product requirements. This joint effort brought success through commercial-scale metallocene production in 2023 and made the site the first 450KTA Gas phase PE unit in China with metallocene PE operation capability.

This achievement is a testament to Grace's strong technical capability and partnership, further enhancing our confidence for future cooperation.

Wang Yonggang

General Manager of ZPC’s Ethylene Chemical Division

ZPC recognized the importance of high-performance resin products in the country and in 2022 partnered with Grace on a journey to produce resin grades using metallocene catalysts. Through careful planning and close collaboration with ZPC, Grace’s ActivCat® Catalyst was a key part in producing commercial scale metallocene production for a full range of PE resins.

"We are delighted to report a successful initial startup of the LLDPE plant in condensing operation mode, producing on-spec metallocene-based PE-RT and film resin. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Grace for their support, hard work, and professional guidance at our site. The past two years have been challenging for the polyethylene & polypropylene industry due to the pandemic and unexpected difficulties. However, we have persevered, finding solutions and overcoming all obstacles. We take great pride in being the first 450KTA Gas phase PE unit in China with metallocene PE operation capability. This achievement is a testament to Grace's strong technical capability and partnership, further enhancing our confidence for future cooperation," stated Wang Yonggang, General Manager of ZPC’s Ethylene Chemical Division.

Grace’s team and technical capability guided ZPC through their production efforts during the pandemic to achieve this cutting-edge achievement. We look forward to exploring more innovative PE resin opportunities for collaboration.

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ActivCat® Catalysts

Grace’s metallocene-based ActivCat® catalysts provide breakthrough activation technology to enhance your plant performance and product capability for PE and PP resins. 

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UNIVATION is a registered trademark (Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off. and other countries) of Univation Technologies and did not contribute towards, or support, this blog post.