Honeywell UOP, formerly known as UOP LLC or Universal Oil Products, is an American multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the petroleum
refining
{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
Refining (also perhaps called by the mathematical term affining) is the process of purification of a (1) substance or a (2) form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, b ...
, gas processing,
petrochemical
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sou ...
production, and major manufacturing industries.
The company's roots date back to 1914, when the revolutionary Dubbs
thermal cracking
In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of ...
process created the technological foundation for today's modern refining industry. In the ensuing decades, UOP engineers generated thousands of patents, leading to important advances in process technology, profitability consultation, and equipment design.
History
UOP was founded in 1914 to exploit the market potential of patents held by inventors Jesse A. Dubbs and his son, Carbon Petroleum (C. P.) Dubbs. Perhaps because he was born in Pennsylvania oil country, Jesse Dubbs was enamored with the oil business. He even named his son Carbon after one of the elemental constituents of oil. Later, Carbon added the P. to make his name "euphonious," he said. People started calling him "Petroleum" for fun, and the name stuck. C. P.'s son and grandson were also named Carbon, but each had a different middle initial.
When founded in 1914 it was a privately held firm known as the National Hydrocarbon Company.
J. Ogden Armour
Jonathan Ogden Armour (November 11, 1863 – August 16, 1927) was an American meatpacking magnate and only surviving son of Civil War–era industrialist Philip Danforth Armour. He became owner and president of Armour & Company upon the death of ...
provided initial seed money and kept the firm going the first years it lost money.
Most of the losses were incurred during lengthy legal battles with petroleum firms that were using technology patented by Dubbs.
In 1919 the firm's name became Universal Oil Products.
By 1931, petroleum firms saw a possible competitive advantage to owning UOP. A consortium of firms banded together to purchase the firm. These firms were Shell Oil Company, Standard Oil Company of California, Standard Oil Company of Indiana, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, The Texas Company, and N. V. de Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij. This worried oil firms that were not part of the group and it helped prompt the Justice Department to begin an investigation of this arrangement as a possible violation of antitrust laws.
The oil firms placed the assets of UOP into a trust to support the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...
. In 1959 UOP went public and the income from that sale still provides monies to the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...
to administer grants to universities worldwide.
In August 1988 Union Carbide Corporation and
AlliedSignal
AlliedSignal was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and Signal Companies. It subsequently purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and thereafter adopted the Honeywell n ...
formed a joint venture combining the latter's wholly owned subsidiary, UOP Inc., and the Catalyst, Adsorbents and Process Systems (CAPS) business of Union Carbide.
AlliedSignal acquired
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
in 1999 and assumed the latter's name. In 2005, what was now known as Honeywell acquired Union Carbide's stake in UOP, making it again a wholly owned subsidiary. The reported payment to Union Carbide was $835 million, valuing UOP at $1.6 billion.
Facilities
![Honeywell green fuel refinery in Pasadena, Texas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Honeywell_green_fuel_refinery_in_Pasadena%2C_Texas.jpg)
The UOP Riverside research and development laboratory in
McCook, Illinois
McCook is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and is an industrial suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 249, which is the lowest population of all municipalities in the county.
History
McCook was na ...
was conceived in 1921 by
Hiram J. Halle, the chief executive officer of Universal Oil Products (now simply UOP), as a focal point where the best and brightest scientists could create new products and provide scientific support for the oil refining industry. Between 1921 and 1955, Riverside research resulted in 8,790 U.S. and foreign patents and provided the foundation on which UOP built its success.
The company benefited immensely by the addition to its research staff of Professor
Vladimir Ipatieff
Vladimir Nikolayevich Ipatieff (also Ipatyev; russian: Владимир Николаевич Ипатьев); (November 21, 1867 (November 9 OS) – November 29, 1952) was a Russian and American chemist. His most important contributions are in the ...
, famous Russian scientist known internationally for his work in high-pressure catalysis. His contribution in catalytic chemistry gave UOP a position of leadership in the development of
catalysis
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
as applied to petroleum processing, the first being catalytic
polymerization
In polymer chemistry, polymerization (American English), or polymerisation (British English), is a process of reacting monomer, monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks. There are ...
. Vladimir Haensel, a student of Ipatieff’s, joined UOP and developed Platforming in the 1950s. This process used very small amounts of
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
as a catalyst for the high yield of high-octane gasoline from petroleum-based feeds.
The Riverside facility was recognized as a
National Historic Chemical Landmark
The National Historic Chemical Landmarks program was launched by the American Chemical Society in 1992 to recognize significant achievements in the history of chemistry and related professions. The program celebrates the The central science, cent ...
by the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...
in 1995.
Technologies
Adsorption separation technology
Distillation
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...
is the most common way to separate chemicals with different
boiling point
The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding envir ...
s. The greater the difference in boiling points, the easier it is to do. However, when boiling points are too similar, this isn't feasible. Adsorption separation might be possible. In adsorption separation, a mixture of chemicals flows past a porous solid called the adsorbent and some chemicals tend to "hang out" longer. A valid analogy is to imagine a busy street with people walking in the same direction past great places to eat. The hungriest people will tend to stop right away. The people that were pretty full will make it far down the street. Now imagine flooding the whole town with water and everyone runs out where you can collect them according to how hungry they were. In technical terms the liquid flush is called the desorbent.
This type of separation was first commonly used in the laboratory to separate small test samples. UOP pioneered a method of separating large volumes of chemicals. They call the counter-current embodiment of it the Sorbex family of processes. These are the major ones designed by UOP:
Parex: separation of
para-xylene
''p''-Xylene ( ''para''-xylene) is an aromatic hydrocarbon. It is one of the three isomers of dimethylbenzene known collectively as xylenes. The ''p-'' stands for ''para-'', indicating that the two methyl groups in ''p''-xylene occupy the diame ...
from a mixture of
xylene
In organic chemistry, xylene or xylol (; IUPAC name: dimethylbenzene) are any of three organic compounds with the formula . They are derived from the substitution of two hydrogen atoms with methyl groups in a benzene ring; which hydrogens are s ...
isomers
In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formulae – that is, same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. Isomerism is existence or possibility of isomers.
...
MX Sorbex: separation of
meta-xylene from a mixed of xylene isomers
Molex:
linear paraffins
In organic chemistry, an alkane, or paraffin (a historical trivial name that also has other meanings), is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon. In other words, an alkane consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure in which ...
from branched and cyclic hydrocarbons
Olex: olefins from paraffins
Cresex: para-cresol or meta-cresol from other cresol isomers
Cymex: para-cymene or meta-cymene from other cymene isomers
Sarex: fructose from mixed sugars
Renewable fuels technology
In 2008, UOP revealed its Ecofining process which takes
vegetable oils
Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...
, or
lipids
Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include ...
, and converts them into replacements for diesel and jet fuels. The resultant fuels from this refining process are indistinguishable from existing fossil-based petro-diesels and jet fuels.
Catalytic converter
Most of UOP's work is not known to the general public since most applications are within refineries and petrochemical plants. However, one technology UOP helped develop is familiar to automobile owners. During the 1970s, UOP worked on pioneering a combined
muffler
A muffler (North American and Australian English) or silencer (British English) is a device for reducing the noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine—especially a noise-deadening device forming part of the exhaust sys ...
catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device that converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction. Catalytic converters are usually ...
. To help publicize their work they sponsored
CanAm and
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
teams. The race cars used were developed by
Shadow Racing Cars. Many race fans were drawn to the team's innovative designs and underdog status. UOP finally achieved a goal when California adopted the catalytic converter after the UOP governmental relations rep, Donald Gazzaniga, helped push legislation through the state Senate and Assembly.
[UOP]
See also
*
Catalytic reforming
Catalytic reforming is a chemical process used to convert petroleum refinery naphthas distilled from crude oil (typically having low octane ratings) into high-octane liquid products called reformates, which are premium blending stocks for high-oc ...
*
Penex
The Penex process is a continuous catalytic process used in the refining of crude oil. It isomerizes light straight run naphtha (C5/C6) into higher-octane, branched C5/C6 molecules. It was first used commercially in 1958.
The Penex process uses ...
References
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uop Llc
Petroleum technology
Engineering companies of the United States
National Medal of Technology recipients
Technology companies established in 1914
Superfund sites in New Jersey
Honeywell
Companies based in Cook County, Illinois