Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering Department
KAUST Global Research Principal Investigator
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
Dr. Sulaiman Al-Khattaf, Principal Investigator for KAUST’s Center-In-Development at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) will conduct transformative research in petrochemicals and polymers.
How will the Center for Refining and Petrochemicals (CRP) and Research Institute at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals collaborate with KAUST for your research surrounding petrochemicals and polymers?
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals — a leading scientific and technical university in Saudi Arabia — has fairly well established educational and research programs in various areas of petrochemicals and polymers.Experienced faculty members, full-time researchers, and essential infrastructure and facilities are available at the university, particularly in the Research Institute.
KAUST’s goal is to be among the world's great institutions of research; to educate and train future generations of scientists, engineers, and technologists; and to foster, on the basis of merit and excellence, collaboration and cooperation with other great research universities and the private sector.
With a strong educational ecosystem, plentiful talent, and good infrastructure, and as a leading seat of learning in the Middle East, KFUPM has a significant role to play in the realization of KAUST's vision.
Investigators involved in the KAUST Center-in-Development at KFUPM are drawn from the Center for Refining and Petrochemicals at the Research Institute, the departments of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Mechanical Engineering. The emphasis on catalysis research falls in line with the major Catalysis Research Center at KAUST. Similarly, polymers and composite materials are part of KAUST's Composites and Nanomaterials Research Center. Faculty members, researchers, and students of KAUST can also participate in the center-in-development’s research projects.
You are an award-winning teacher. Can you describe some benefits KFUPM students and researchers will gain from your center-in-development, and provide examples of research projects they will now be able to work on because of the KAUST Global Research Partnership Program?
I consider students and researchers the primary beneficiaries of the KAUST Center-in-Development award for Transformative Research in Petrochemicals and Polymers. It will strengthen graduate education in the areas of the center’s research focus, providing a strong workforce base and more highly skilled workers for the local petrochemical, and polymer industries. More specifically, it will offer immense opportunities to grant master’s and doctoral degrees as a part of KAUST graduate study. Also, students and researchers from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals will be able to collaborate with distinguished KAUST faculty members through this center.
KFUPM students and researchers are currently working on the following research projects:
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Development of novel catalyst system for conversion of hexane to benzene
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Ethylbenzene transformation over zeolite catalysts
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Synthesis of titania and silica-titania supported gold catalysts for the direct epoxidation of propylene with hydrogen and oxygen
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Optimizing the catalytic methanol-to-olefins process for enhanced propylene production
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Development of novel multi-purpose interfacial functional additives and compatibilizers for polyolefin
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Melt spinning process of super-fiber-composites
Your research will be conducted by interdisciplinary project teams at KFUPM. Tell us how you formed this team to benefit KAUST’s research goals.
The awarded projects are in the following areas: aromatization catalysts, synthesis of polyolefin additives and compatibilizers, and carbon nanotube-polyolefin composites.
They were selected considering the needs of Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical and polymer industries, as well as the opportunities for contributions from academic and applied perspectives.
Each project comprises a set of objective-driven tasks. The corresponding project teams were formed by carefully reviewing what expertise, experience, and training these tasks required for successful completion. These requirements were discussed with my colleagues in the Center for Refining and Petrochemicals, and the Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Mechanical Engineering departments, who are active in the above areas and have proven records of successful research.
Petrochemicals are vital to the economy of Saudi Arabia. Can you tell us what attracted you to this field, and what it means to you to play such an important role in training and developing the next generation of scientists who will help diversify Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical production?
Being a chemical engineer, I got attracted to catalysis and reaction kinetics of chemical processing. I also witnessed the successful launching of world-scale chemical and polymer joint ventures between the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation and international chemical companies in the industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu.
The Kingdom has succeeded in using its vast stores of natural gas and natural gas liquids as a base to expand and diversify into petrochemicals, making it a dominant force in the global petrochemicals market. This diversified petrochemical product chain has made the mainly gas-based and export-oriented industry the largest in the Middle East and one of the world’s top five producers. Such successes have led SABIC and other Saudi companies to look into expanding the production of high-value chemicals.
Addressing the needs of the industry, my Research Center has undertaken projects that focus on the development of novel catalysts and advanced polymer products. Parallel to this, the Center is developing educational programs that will enhance the technical skills of those who work in the petrochemical industry.
Could you explain some of the current challenges of the global petrochemical and polymer industry in regards to different feedstocks and specifically in relation to available resources in Saudi Arabia? How might your research accelerate the commercialization of new technologies to assist with this challenge?
The global petrochemical industry is undergoing structural changes with a marked shift toward the East – where there are feedstocks, lower operating costs, and market access.
This is a major shift. It deserves the attention of everyone who is concerned about meeting future global chemical demands. While these factors provide clear advantages for the region, I believe technology and knowledge are essential to stay competitive.
Ongoing research efforts at KFUPM and the Center-in-Development are focused on the current and future needs of Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical and polymer industry. These activities will accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough technologies in such domains as advanced catalysts for intermediate petrochemicals as well as polyolefin additives and fibers. The results of these projects will create opportunities for the chemical industry to develop new grades of polymer and aromatics value chain.
What are some commercial applications of your work? Can you provide examples of products that the center-in-development hopes to develop for domestic and international commercial use?
Petrochemical products and their derivatives provide important and essential benefits to an ever-increasing number of people around the world. Our ongoing research activities will lead to the development and commercialization of several technologies related to novel and tailored zeolite catalysts, processes, and products.
Research activities in petrochemicals target the development of zeolite-based catalysts for the production of selected olefins from methanol and aromatics such as benzene from hexane and diethylbenzene (DEB).
These high-value products are used in the production of downstream derivatives. For example, DEB is used as a desorbent in the recovery of high-purity paraxylene. The epoxidation of propylene aims at maximizing propylene oxide, which is an intermediate product that is used in polyether polyol (the precursor for polyurethane) and propylene glycol.
Polymer research includes development of novel multi-purpose interfacial functional additives and compatibilizers for polyolefin to enhance properties. The other project focuses on melt spinning process of super-fiber-composites. These activities provide more opportunities for conversion of these products into their respective derivatives for the domestic and regional markets.
International demand for petrochemicals is growing at a rate of 5 to 6 percent a year. What are some of the challenges facing the global petrochemical and polymer industry and how will your research address them?
Petrochemicals and polymers are basic materials that support myriad activities in production, handling, and distribution of a wide variety of products. Despite the fact that the petrochemical industry is cyclical, it is dynamic, innovative, and constantly evolving.
The global petrochemical industry accounts for about 40 percent of the $2.85 trillion world chemical market.
In general, Asian demand is the key to the international petrochemical market. While demand for key petrochemical products grows at GDP rates in the most of the world, demand for polymers has grown in excess of 10 percent in Asia.
As I mentioned earlier, the global petrochemical and polymer industry is experiencing major challenges, much of it revolving around feedstocks and demographics. The industry is no stranger to rapid change and it will meet these new challenges as it has in the past. I think the future trends of the global petrochemical industry include innovative and cost-effective product development, consolidation of capacities across the aromatics and polymer value chain, energy management, and environmental protection.
Currently, the Saudi petrochemical industry produces 8 percent of global petrochemicals and aims to increase its share to 15 percent within five years. This is significant in itself, when one considers that the Kingdom was producing almost no petrochemicals as recently as 25 years ago. I’m very optimistic that the Saudi petrochemical industry will continue showing healthy growth in the long term, despite the current global economic slowdown.
What level of collaboration do you envision with your counterparts in the oil and gas industry? What are the benefits of this collaboration?
We would really like to collaborate as one team in identifying short- and long-term goals. The short-term ones will include:
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Use of selected research and analytical facilities that we do not have; and
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Invitation of constructive comments and remarks on the results of the awarded projects (within the administrative framework of the Center and our University) so they can be useful to the concerned industries.
The long-term goals will address the establishment of partnerships in defining, as well as conducting, research projects in strategic areas of common interest.
These collaborative efforts can result into the following benefits:
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Establish and cultivate highly focused research programs that will generate novel concepts and intellectual properties, leading to the creation of better products with lower production costs.
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Develop better, more practical graduate study and research.
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Make Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical and polymer industries more competitive.
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Promote cooperation and efficiencies in research by strengthening domestic and international research linkages and by increasing the number of industrial affiliations.