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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, announced today that it is the recipient of the 44^th Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Award for its breakthrough AlkyClean® process technology developed jointly with CB&I and Neste.

The Kirkpatrick Award honors the most noteworthy chemical engineering technology commercialized anywhere in the world over the past two years. Out of the many submissions to Chemical Engineering magazine, only six finalists were selected. Criteria for winner selection include novelty of the technology, the difficulty of the chemical engineering problem that was solved and the overall engineering excellence. The awards were announced at the Chem Show in New York on November 1, 2017.

"We have been working together with our technology partners for several years to develop a commercially viable and safe option to produce high-quality alkylate without the use of liquid acid catalysts," said Silvio Ghyoot, president of Albemarle's Refining Solutions global business unit. "We are honored by this prestigious award and recognition of the unique AlkyClean technology for its potential as a game-changing technology for our refining customers."

This technology, which applies the proprietary Albemarle AlkyStar® catalyst, eliminates the use of liquid acids for the production of motor fuel alkylate, and thus eliminates the hazards and  environmental and operating issues associated with handling liquid acids. The world's first solid catalyst alkylation process was commercialized with this new catalyst and process in Shandong, China, in August 2015. The AlkyClean® process offers environmental benefits due to the reduction of waste streams, such as spent acids and acid-soluble oils, and is also inherently safer when compared to technologies employing liquid acids.

The AlkyClean® process technology was also the recipient of the 2016 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award presented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in cooperation with the American Chemical Society.

About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine and refining catalysts. We power the potential of companies in many of the world's largest and most critical industries, from energy and communications to transportation and electronics.  Working side-by-side with our customers, we develop value-added, customized solutions that make them more competitive. Our solutions combine the finest technology and ingredients with the knowledge and know-how of our highly experienced and talented team of operators, scientists and engineers.
Discovering and implementing new and better performance-based sustainable solutions is what motivates all of us. We think beyond business-as-usual to drive innovations that create lasting value. Albemarle employs approximately 4,100 people and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. We regularly post information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, non-GAAP reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding our company, its businesses and the markets it serves.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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SOURCE Albemarle Corporation

Media Contact: Susan Richardson, (980) 299-5672, Susan.Richardson@albemarle.com; Investor Relations Contact: Matt Juneau, (225) 388-7940, Matt.Juneau@albemarle.com