Gulbrandsen have announced the commercial launch and broader global introduction of HYPORE, a portfolio of advanced silica supports and silica-supported chromium catalyst precursors for polyethylene catalyst systems.
HYPORE expands Gulbrandsen’s capabilities in the polyolefin catalyst value chain beyond its established global position in metal alkyls and provides polyethylene producers, catalyst manufacturers, and process-technology companies with an additional commercial source of critical catalyst components.
HYPORE is the result of a multi-year, internally led research, product development, and commercialisation programme that has taken the technology from laboratory development through pilot production to commercial-scale manufacturing and customer qualification.
Rather than developing a single standardised silica product, Gulbrandsen has built a flexible silica support and catalyst-precursor platform capable of tailoring critical physical and chemical properties to specific polyethylene catalyst, process, and reactor requirements.
Gulbrandsen is also working with customers to develop and qualify customised grades tailored to specific requirements for particle-size distributions, pore structure, surface characteristics, or metal-modification profiles. Customer qualification programmes are ongoing across both slurry-phase and gas-phase polyethylene processes.
“HYPORE represents a significant expansion of Gulbrandsen’s capabilities within the polyolefin catalyst value chain,” said Abhishek C. Kumar, Director, Commercial Development at Gulbrandsen. “We have built the technical, analytical, and manufacturing capabilities needed to develop and produce these materials at commercial scale while retaining the flexibility to work with customers on highly specific catalyst requirements. Our objective is to provide customers with another technically capable, commercially scalable supply option and a development partner that can support both established and customised polyethylene catalyst systems.”
HYPORE products are manufactured at Gulbrandsen’s new greenfield manufacturing site. The facility is supported by dedicated process development, analytical, and quality control capabilities and is designed to provide consistent control of critical product properties, low batch-to-batch variability, and reliable commercial-scale supply.
