To Set up a Dry Reforming of Methane (DRM) Facility
LG Chem announced on Nov. 17 that it will build a dry reforming of methane (DRM) facility that makes plastics with methane and carbon dioxide.
DRM is a type of carbon dioxide capture and utilization (CCU) technology and is a carbon reduction facility that reduces existing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 50 percent and produces major plastic raw materials. LG Chem will build the DRM plant with its own technology and has already developed a catalyst, which is the key to carbon dioxide conversion, with its own technology.
LG Chem is the first in Korea to commercialize DRM facilities by using proprietary technology. So far, DRM has been difficult to commercialize due to the rapid decline of catalyst performance during operations, but LG Chem has dramatically improved the durability of the catalyst.
The company will build a 1,000-ton pilot plant in Daesan, South Chungcheong Province, by 2023 to verify its proprietary technology and continue to expand the scale by 2026. In 2019, LG Chem set up an organization to internalize catalyst production technology.
“LG Chem is steadily making efforts to lead the global chemical industry’s carbon reduction and sustainable innovative technologies by going beyond the traditional petrochemical industry structure,” said Roh Kuk-rae, head of the Petrochemical Business Headquarters at LG Chem.