Researchers from Korean oil group SK (Seoul; http.//eng.skcorp.com) and the state-owned Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology have found an improved naphtha cracking technology that they claim can save energy and lower capital expenditure. Naphtha cracking currently requires a process temperature of 850 °C, but a report by the "Yonhap" news agency says the new advanced catalytic olefin (AOC) process developed by the private-public R&D team gets by with a temperature of less than 700 °C.

Using less heat reduces energy input by around 20%, and at the same time increases ethylene and propylene yield by around 30%, the researchers say, adding that, as the simpler process is cheaper to set up, investment costs also can be reduced by 30%. SK and the institute, which jointly own patent rights, plan to begin pilot-scale commercial production at SK´s Ulsan / Korea site in 2009 and begin licensing the process the following year.