A company we’re keeping our eye on is Siluria Technologies. We wrote about them a few weeks back (see New Tech Converts NatGas into Ethylene, Bypassing Cracker Plants). In a nutshell, Siluria doesn’t need to use ethane to crack it into ethylene (the raw material used in plastics). Instead, Siluria has invented a process to go directly from methane to ethylene, bypassing the need for a cracker plant to crack ethane. How cool is that? Siluria is building on their early success by partnering with Italian company Maire Tecnimont to “combine their respective technologies and expertise to bring to the marketplace a unique process to convert natural gas directly into commodity chemicals and their derivative products.” What does it mean? Does it mean Siluria has gotten an Italian partner to sell its technology in Europe? Does it mean Siluria will be able to convert methane into petrochemicals other than ethylene? No idea! But we’ll keep a sharp eye out for more details when/if they become available. In the meantime, here’s the Maire Tecnimont announcement…
