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Manufacturing locations
Shell chemicals companies are the largest producers of alpha olefins in the world. Two manufacturing facilities at Geismar, Louisiana and Stanlow, UK are largely devoted to alpha olefin production. This spread of production facilities gives Shell chemicals companies a strong competitive position and helps them provide product to you when and where you need it.
Our larger Geismar facility, with a capacity of 928 kt/year makes linear paraffins, iso-paraffins (mostly methyl-branched), internal olefins and linear alpha olefins for use in oilfield fluids. Stanlow, with a capacity of 330 kt/year, produces linear paraffins and linear alpha olefins for use in oilfield fluids.
Alpha and internal olefins are produced via a proprietary process called the Shell Higher Olefins Process (SHOP). The process uses ethylene to produce highly linear, long-chain (C4 to C30) olefins. Within SHOP, some of the alpha olefins of varying chain lengths are rearranged and isomerised to produce internal olefins in the C11 to C18 range. Some of the internal olefins (C11 to C14) are fed to the Shell HydroFormylation (SHF) process to produce detergent alcohols, synthetic linear paraffins and iso-paraffins. The C15 to C18 range material is used for both detergent and oilfield fluids end uses.