Linear alkyl-benzene (LAB) is a vital ingredient for synthetic detergents. Obtained from linear olefins (C10 - C13) and benzene, it is used in the manufacture of linear alkyl-benzene sulphonate (LABS), a basic intermediate in the manufacture of biodegradable detergents. LAB has to be sulphonated and neutralised with an alkali for it, to be used as a surfactant. After sulphonation, the product is referred to as Linear Alkyl Benzene sulphonate or Linear Alkylate sulphonate. Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulphonate is one of the most widely used surfactant.
NPC decided to construct an LAB plant in order to respond to the country's ever-growing demand for the product in the downstream industries. Mashaldaran Petrochemical Company, an NPC subsidiary, is responsible for implementing and running the project.

NPC's first LAB plant, a grassroots project of phases one and two of the company's five-phase Strategic Development Program, will be built in the western city of Kermanshah. The production capacity of the plant is 50,000-t/y. Its key raw materials are kerosene (400,000-t/y) and benzene (19,000-t/y). The nearby Kermanshah Refinery will supply the plant with kerosene. Benzene will be provided from either Esfahan or Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex. It will also consume 5 m cubic meters of hydrogen which will be produced by the plant itself. The plant's technology has been obtained from the Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP) of France. It has also been awarded the contract for the project's basic engineering work, which is currently underway.

The plant consists of two production units; Normal Paraffin Production Unit and LAB Production Unit. The processing units include prefractionation, hydrotreating, elupar, dehydrogenation and HF-alkylation units. The 50,000-t/y plant is due onstream in 2002. It was originally planned to be built in Bandar Abbas, but later on NPC decided to move the plant's location to Kermanshah. Apart from the provision of technology and basic engineering, which will be carried out by IFP, the Iranian companies will do detailed

engineering, procurement, geo-technical operations, infrastructural services, and construction as well as installation operations. They will also supply all the equipment and machinery that are manufactured locally. Fifty percent of the plant's output will be consumed in the local market and the rest will be exported. Recently, NPC and the United Development Company of Qatar decided in June 2000 to launch a joint feasibility study to develop a 50,000-t/y LAB plant at Bandar Abbas (News Bulletin # 6)*