Project Profile

United Sulpho-Chemicals Ltd.

MARCH 2021
 Contents
1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. Market and customer
4. The Project
5. Project Implementation time schedule
6. Main assumptions
7. Raw Materials and Supply Chain
8. Project Capacity
9. Investment
10. Technical Aspects
11. Financial KPI
12. Plant & Machinery Supplier
13. Risk Factors
Executive Summary:
SLES and LABSA are two key ingredients in manufacturing Shampoo, Handwash liquid,
dishwash, dets powder. While half of local requirements of LABSA is locally produced for
Unilever; full requirement of SLES is imported. The project is intended to manufacture SLES and
LABSA to cater the demand of the local industries as an alternative to import substitute. The
output of the factory can also be exported to seven sister states in India, Srilanka and Africa.
The project will enjoy Tax holiday for first 3 years and partial holiday for subsequent years. The
estimated project cost is USD 7.5 million. The payback period of the project is estimated to be 4
years, NPV USD 4.8m with IRR 21%. Producing right quality materials and efficient buying of
two key raw materials; LAB and Alcohol Ethoxylate are crucial for success of the project.
1. INTRODUCTION:
Removing dirt from clothing, dishes and our skin is an important part of daily life. From soaps
and toothpastes to laundry detergents many products foam when used to unlock their cleaning
action.
The ingredients which help make this happen are called surfactants. When used with water they foam and
give a product the ability to remove dirt. Two surfactants that help products clean in this way are called
sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). Widely used in liquid detergent such as
dishwashing detergent, shampoo, bubble bath liquid, hand washing etc.

Global Market size of SLES is USD 1 billion.

Sodium lauryl ether sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) market applications are broadly categorized
into detergents & cleaners, and personal care products apart from other uses such as medical,
antimicrobial, and agricultural chemicals. Detergents & cleaners are the major application sector. Sodium
laureth sulfate is an anionic surfactant with a strong amphiphilic base, making it compatible with both fat
and water. The product is easily available and is a formidable stain remover, making it an accepted
ingredient among detergent manufacturers.

Personal care products application segment accounted for more than a quarter of the global SLES market
and it includes consumer products such as creams, lotions, soaps, shampoos, body washes, facial
cleansers, toothpastes, etc. Superior foaming and lathering properties of the product, due to which it wets
the body surface, emulsifies the oil, and solubilizes soil, will have a positive influence on the global SLES
market in the coming years. Malevolent impact of the product on human health may pose certain
restraints on the sodium lauryl ether sulfate market.
SLES market is fragmented with the presence of several multinational giants in the competitive
landscape. Key product manufacturers include Croda International, Evonik Industries, Clariant
Corporation, Stepan Company, BASF, Huntsman Corporation, Solvay, The Dow Chemical Company,
Kao Corporation, Galaxy Surfactants, Godrej Industries, Ho Tung Chemical, Taiwan NJC Corporation,
Ultra Group, and Zhejiang Zanyu Technology.

SLES market is majorly driven by the increasing consumer awareness about personal hygiene and
cleanliness. Growing commercialization of personal care products such as shampoos, soaps, body & face
cleansers, etc. also has a positive impact on the global SLES market. Moreover, health benefits of
residential as well as institutional cleanliness will also boost the market demand of the anionic surfactant
in the coming years.

Linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acid is mainly used to produce household detergents including laundry
powders, laundry liquids, dishwashing liquids and other household cleaners as well as in numerous
industrial applications like as a coupling agent and as an emulsifier for agricultural herbicides and in
emulsion polymerization. In other industries such as textile industries, it is used as a mercerizing or
washing agent. Stepan, CEPSA, Sasol, KAPACHIM, SK GROUP, Fogla Group, New India Detergents
Ltd, ISU Chemical, AK ChemTech Co.,LTD. Solvay are the top MNCs producing LABSA.

2. Market and Potential Customers:

Current Market size of SLES (in Bangladesh) is about 12,000 MT p.a. The market is growing @
8-9% p.a. The main users include Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, Square Cosmetics Ltd, Tibet, ACI
and other Personal Products makers in Bangladesh. Current market size of LABSA is about 75,00
MT p.a. The market is growing over a rate of 7% p.a. The main users of LABSA are Unilever,
Kohinoor Chemical. Square Pharma, Ghori dets, Reckit BENCKIZER, Keya Cosmetics and
various Textile mills.

Both LABSA and SLES can also be exported to India (seven sister states & West Bengal),
Srilanka and Africa.
 3. The Project:
The project is to produce SLES and LABSA to cater the demand of local industries in
Bangladesh. Initially the plant will have one reactor. It will have a capacity of 3 MT per hour /
21,600 MT of LABSA per year and 2.5 MT per hour / 18000 MT of SLES per year. The plant
will have an option to add one reactor to double the capacity in 3-4 years time. Full requirement
of SLES is currently imported from various countries such as Indonesia, India and China.
LABSA is imported from India, Korea, China etc. Both SLES and LABSA has a customs duty of
15%. The project will offer the benefit of on shore SLES / LABSA to local consumer goods
manufacturer. The benefits include shorter lead time, inventory optimization, procurement in
local currency and fresh stock etc.

4. Project Implementation Time Schedule:

SL NO Activity Plan Period in Weeks

cumulative)
1 Company Registration 4
2 Arrangement of land & approval of Plan by Local 10
Authority
3 Finance / Fund arrangement 4
4 Order Placement for plant 2
5 Civil Construction 12
6 Plant Design and Fabrication 15
7 Shipment of Plant 4
8 Plant Installation 8
9 Pre-Commissioning 6
10 Commissioning ant start up 4
11

It will take 18 months from Start of the project to commercial production. Many of the project activities
as above can go in parallel; while civil construction is on at site; plant fabrication will be happening at
supplier’s premises.

5. Raw Materials and Supply Chain

Main Raw materials of LABSA is linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) and Sulphur.
The global LAB market is highly fragmented in nature, as there is a host of regional manufacturers.
Around 50% of the major companies in the global market are multinational corporations. The leading
firm in the global LAB market is Sasol, based in South Africa. 9% of the global LAB market is held
by Sasol. Other major players in the global LAB are Huntsman, Honeywell, Deten Quimica, CEPSA
Quimica, Reliance Aromatics and Petrochemicals, Jintung Petrochemecal, Unggul Indah Cahaya, ISU
Chemical, Chevron Phillips Chemical and Fushun Petrochemicals. The common goal these leading
manufacturers of linear alkyl benzene (LAB) have is to expand their business in the emerging nations
of Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Asia Pacific Holds Top Position in Global LAB Market

It is no wonder that Asia Pacific is leading the global linear alkyl benzene (LAB) market. The
reason behind Asia Pacific being the global leader in the global linear alkyl benzene (LAB)
market is the high demand it generates for household and industrial cleaning products. The
demand for LAB is high in Asia Pacific as a result of strong growth of its end-use industries in
emerging nations such as China and India. The number of companies in this region is increasing
at a steady pace.

Other factors responsible for growth of the Asia Pacific linear alkyl benzene (LAB) market are
the accelerating population and disposable income. Currently, Asia Pacific holds the majority of
the global linear alkyl benzene market in terms of both volume and revenue; over 40% of the
global linear alkyl benzene market was held by Asia Pacific in 2013.

Main Raw Materials of SLES is Alcohol Ethoxylate, Shlphur And Caustic Soda. The global
alcohol ethoxylate market size was estimated at USD 5.18 Billion in 2016. Growing demand for
the product for high grade industrial & institutional and household cleaners is expected to drive
the market growth over the forecast period. In addition, rising demand for biodegradable
surfactants by the application industries is expected to drive the market growth.
The demand for lauryl alcohol ethoxylates for cleaning purposes in industrial & institutional and
household detergents is expected to drive the market growth. Growing demand for the low foam
and low rinse products is expected to result in an increase in the demand for such products over
the forecast period. In addition, favorable biodegradable nature of the aforementioned product is
expected to lead to a rising demand for the product over the next eight years.

6. Project Capacity:
Initially the plant will have one reactor. It will have a capacity of 3 MT per hour / 21,600 MT
LABSA per year and 2.5 MT per hour / 18000 MT SLES per year. If the plant run in full capacity
and produces only LABSA; it can cater upto 25% of local demand. 50% capacity utilization for
SLES production can cater full requirement of SLES domestic market and about 10% of domestic
LABSA demand.
7. Investment:
An investment of USD 7.5 million is required for implementation of the project. The details
breakdown of this investment is as under: in USD 000 and BDT lakhs
Civil Construction (6,000 Sq Meter) 1,000
FEED Documentation and detailed Engineering 500
Sulphur Supply System 145
Air Supply System 600
SO3 Gas Plant 645
SO3 Absorber System 110
Sulfonation System (for each reactor) 620
Neutralizer System 420
Electrostatic Precipitator, SO2 Absorber System, Control System (PLC)
Motor Control Center (MCC) 710
Supervision, Mechanical Completion & Commissioning 300
Utility 750
Storage Tank 750
ETP 350
Fire Fighting, Safety equipment 350
Contingency 250
Total 7,500

8. Technical Aspects of the Plant:

The sulfonation plant consists of several distinct process operations. The Sulphonation process of
the plan can be described as

1. Sulphur Supply System

Sulphur is supplied to the sulphur burner from one of two submerged gear pumps located in the
sulphur Melter. Dual pumps are provided to minimize down time during sulphur pump
maintenance. The submerged pumps provide accuracy, reliability, a clean environment and ease
of maintenance. Steam jacketed mechanical seals, which are prone to failure, are eliminated by
submerging the pumps in molten sulphur. A bubbler type level transmitter will indicate and alarm
the sulphur level in the tank.
The SO3 to organic mole ratio is a very important parameter for controlling the sulfonation
process. To achieve the precision required to produce the finest quality surfactants, TIPL uses an
accurate mass flow meter for measuring the sulphur flow to the burner. A customized temperature
interlock in the mass flow transmitter reduces failures due to operating the system with frozen
sulphur in the meter. Similarly, the pump trips when the mass flow meter reading goes to zero
due to plugging of strainer at the pump suction. This will help in protecting the pump from dry
running. A steam and condensate system is utilized to supply the necessary tracing circuits for all
the sulphur supply piping and the storage tank system. An automatic steam flushing arrangement
is provided to fight any fire break out inside the tank, by sensing the higher temperature in the
vapor space of the sulphur tank.

2. Air Supply System

The process air is first compressed to a pressure of approximately 1 kg/cm2 and chilled to a
temperature of 16°C in the air chiller vessel (see Figure 2). The chilled air is then dried in
automatic desiccant-type air dryers to a guaranteed dew point of -60°C (typically -70C).
The dual air dryers are equipped with 11 individual bubble tight control valves. This ensures
absolutely no interruption of process air when changing dryers and a smooth pressure transition
when changing to regeneration. On power failure, these valves are designed to automatically
close to prevent back up of corrosive gas into the dryers, and to keep moist atmospheric air from
reaching the dryers and gas plant. Our design utilizes Sorbead desiccant, a BASF product made
under license. This material is non-friable and provides longer life, lower dew point and lower
regeneration temperatures than typical activated alumina or silica gel systems. The material can
also withstand significantly higher regeneration temperatures than other types of desiccant, thus
facilitating better drying. We balance the stress on the desiccant beds with process air flowing in
an up-flow path and regeneration air in a down flow path, resulting in longer desiccant life.
Additionally, automatic control of the dryer regeneration air temperature ensures both long
desiccant life and low maintenance requirements.
The cooling air blower is used to cool the regenerated (off-line) air dryer to an acceptable level,
prior to bringing the regenerated air dryer back on-line.
A regeneration air blower is used to supply cooling air to the double pipe SO2 gas cooler, inter
pass cooler and SO3 cooler used in the gas plant. The hot air leaving the double pipe cooler is
then used to regenerate the off-line air dryer. During the air dryer cooling cycle the regeneration
air is vented to the atmosphere.
3. A. SO3 Gas Generator
A continuous source of dry air-SO3 gas is required for film sulfonation and sulfation. To ensure a
constant stable operation of the complete sulfonation plant, the SO3 gas generator system is
designed for easy and reliable operation.

4. SO3 Absorber
This unit can treat the total output from the air-SO3 system to form 98% sulphuric acid.
a. Sulphur burning SO3 gas plants can take up to a few hours to develop stable SO2 to SO3
conversion during startup. The SO3 absorber system offers a convenient and reliable method of
handling the process gas during startups. The SO3 strength is unknown during startup. The SO3
absorber system uses conductivity to measure the sulphuric acid concentration in the absorber
recycle and adjusts the concentration by adding process water and therefore operates without the
knowledge of inlet SO3 gas concentrations. The sulfonation system uses mole ratio from a known
sulphur and assumed SO2 to SO3 conversion efficiency to meter the organic to the reactor.
Significant amounts of off-spec (over or under sulfonated) product would be made if the
sulfonation system was utilized during gas plant startups.
b. The SO3 absorber system also offers a convenient and reliable method of handling the process
gas during plant shutdowns, upsets, and product changeovers when the sulfonation system must
be fully drained and washed out. During plant shutdowns the sulphur is turned off but the residual
gases in the gas plant vessels are best purged through the absorber to eliminate fouling the
sulfonation reactor and/or making off-spec product. During product changeovers the gas plant can
be kept on-line (steady state) by utilizing the absorber system as an alternate path through the
plant.

SO3 and air enter the absorber column (see Figure 4), where they contact 98% sulphuric acid.
SO3 is absorbed into the acid, which separates from the remaining air in the scrubber body. A
mesh pad mist eliminator removes entrained mist from the air as it exits the vessel. Water is
added to the scrubber as it flows through the acid circulation system. A control system utilizing
dual conductivity sensors holds the acid concentration at 98% by controlling water addition. A
heat exchanger in the circulation loop removes heat of dilution.
5. Sulfonation:
By contacting an organic sulfonatable substance with gaseous SO3, an addition reaction takes
place. The reaction is named “Sulfonation” for the C – SO3 bond, “Sulfation” for the O – SO3
bond.
SULFONATION: RH + SO3  RSO3H + HEAT
SULFATION: ROH + SO3  ROSO3H + HEAT
For simplicity's sake we refer to both with the term “Sulf(on)ation”.
These reactions are so fast and exothermic that the direct contact between organic and SO3 would
cause such a high temperature increase leading to a degraded product. Furthermore, SO3 reacts
with the organic substance in any ratio, producing over-sulfonation, to the point of destruction of
the organic substance. To avoid this:
1. the SO3 is diluted in dry air (SO3 2,5 ÷ 6% vol.) to reduce its reactivity

2. the reaction is performed in equipment designed to grant uniform contact of the reagents to
avoid over-sulfonation and to produce efficient removal of reaction heat.

The sulfonation equipment is based on a proprietary design, the permanently calibrated

Multitube Falling Film Reactor (MTR).
Reagents, i.e., organic matter, SO3/air and barrier air, are fed to the upper part of the tubes at
constant rate and run through them co-currently, reacting.
An oleum separator/SO3 gas distributor integrated at the top of the reactor ensures even gas
distribution through all of the tubes.
A distributor device ensures a uniform distribution of reagents to all of the tubes and of organic
to all tube walls, so that an equal molar ratio among the reagents can be ensured as well. It is
designed as removable cartridge, allowing an easy and quick replacement for cleaning or
maintenance by a spare one in stock, and without the need to replace the reaction tubes in case of
corrosion.
The organic distribution system design is such that it does not require calibration at the factory
and never requires recalibration in the field (unlike all other MTR reactors). Proposal No. 17-
1101-SN dated November 1, 2017 Technithon International Pte. Ltd.
A barrier air system, generated by a dry air stream, prevents charring of the organic distributor.
This condition would cause a progressive worsening of product quality and the need to wash the
reactor. This same system allows the feeding of protection air in the event of emergency lack of
organic flow or electric power failure, as well as during plant shut-down.
The MTR body is a vertical shell-and-tube heat exchanger with a number of tubes proportional
to the capacity of the plant.
The reagents flowing co-currently downward along the tubes, react on the inner surface of the
tubes walls, which are cooled from the outside to remove the heat generated.
The cooling water is recirculated in the reactor shell, and its temperature is automatically
controlled to maintain values suitable to the feedstock processed.
Different raw materials can be processed in the reactor. The changeover procedure from one
feedstock to another can be performed with the reactor running, simply by changing the organic
feedstock, as the distributor hold-up is minimal. The resulting sulfonic acid is, for a few minutes,
a blend of the two feed stocks that can be mixed to one of them or, should they not be compatible,
collected in a slop system.
At the bottom of the reactor, the gas-liquid mixture leaving the contactor passes through an
efficient centrifugal gas-liquid separator from which:
the exhaust gas is conveyed to the purification section
the liquid is delivered:
the sulfonic acid to storage or to neutralization.
the organic Sulphonic acids directly to a neutralization section

The organic feedstock, delivered from the storage tanks to the plant battery limits by the
Customer's pumps, is filtered and metered by a flow control system using a mass flowmeter and a
gear pump with frequency inverter, located close to the reactor inlet to minimize the mixture of
different feedstocks. Proposal No. 17-1101-SN dated November 1, 2017 Technithon International
Pte. Ltd.
 The barrier air is metered in a flowmeter, heated in a jacketed pipe and filtered and fed to the
reactor. Emergency air is drawn by the instrument air system and fed through an automatic valve.
Cooling water is recirculated by a centrifugal pump. Sulfonic acid is transferred by a gear pump.
There will be digestion and hydrations systems after the reactor.

6. Neutraliser System

The continuous neutralizer system combines sulfonic or organic sulphuric acid with sodium
hydroxide. Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) is the usual neutralizing agent,
A recycle loop circulates neutral slurry through a heat exchanger to remove excess process heat.
Individual pumps feed neutralizing agent, dilution water, buffer solution (if any) and additives (if
any) into the loop to mix through a high shear mixer. Product "paste" is displaced from the circuit
as feed streams enter. A positive displacement recycle pump circulates paste through the process
heat exchanger and a large portion of this stream recycles back to the mixer. A pressure control
valve allows product to leave the recycle system as feed enters.
7. Effluent Gas Treatment System
Effluent process gases leaving the sulfonation system or SO3 absorber are virtually free of
residual SO3, but contain any unconverted SO2 gas and entrained particulate anionic materials
(acidic mists of sulfonic and sulphuric acids). This gas stream is not suitable for direct discharge
to atmosphere.
The recommended system employs a proprietary electrostatic precipitator designed to collect
particulate mists and a packed tower scrubber to absorb SO2 gas in a dilute caustic. Final effluent
gases are suitable for discharge to the atmosphere.

Financial KPI:
Initial Investment USD 7.5 million
Payback period 4 years
NPV USD 4.8m
IRR 21%

Plant and Machinery Supplier:

Considering all aspects; Ballestra Italy has been chosen as the supplier.

Risk Factor:
 Customs duty (CD) is 15% for both LABSA and SLES. Any reduction in CD or free trade
agreement (like SAPTA) will impact the demand of the locally produced SLES and LABSA.
 Manufacturing SLES and LABSA of right quality. It required well trained skilled manpower.
 Success of a chemical factory depends a lot on skilled manpower. Its therefore important the
manpower is trained, developed and retained

 LAB and alcohol ethoxylate are key raw materials for the factory. Its important these Raw
Materials are bought at competitive price and there is long term sourcing arrangement with
reliable suppliers.
 Although waste and effluent is very minimum in the factory; its critical ETP runs efficiently
and other environmental compliance standards are in place