Gas: China: Volume One-Scienceand Technology
Gas: China: Volume One-Scienceand Technology
Gas: China: Volume One-Scienceand Technology
catalyst’s “activity” can accelerate the pro- small amounts of such impurities as hydro-
duction rate of a chemical reaction. At the gen sulfide, carbon dioxide and water vapor.
same time, its “selectivity”dictates a cata- These impurities could damage the catalyst
lyst’s ability to enhance the production rate and so must be removed if the catalyst is to
of the desired product and minimize the for- maintain a long and stable operational lie.
mation of by-products. The unique feature of the DICP technology
In the first commercial plant based on the is the development of a catalyst that is resis-
DICP technology, the catalyst’s activity and tant to sulfur and water and has a long oper-
selectivity have remained high after five ational life.
years of operation. Conversion of the ethy-
lene in the dry gas has exceeded 95 percent, Description
the selectivity to ethylbenzene has been Use of a catalyst with ethylene in the FCC
more than 99 percent, and the purity of the dry gas to alkylate with benzene to produce
ethylbenzene produced has averaged 99.6 ethylbenzene began in 1985. DICP research,
percent of its weight. A second plant is oper- first on a laboratory scale and then in a pilot
ating with similar results. plant, under conditions simulating commer-
cial plants led to development of a novel cat-
Background alyst for this new technology by 1988. The
and Justification next two years saw the manufacture of the
FCC is an important heavy-oil conversion catalyst on a semi-commercial scale (500
technology in refineries. In China, the total tonnes annually). Design of a commercial-
capacity of FCC plants has reached 56 mil- scale plant, with production capacity of
lion tonnes per year. Dry gas, meanwhile, is 30,000 tonnes per year, then followed, and
produced at an annual rate of 1.68 million the plant was built and put into continuous
tonnes. The latter usually contains some 20 operation in 1993.
percent volume of ethylene that is burned In the conventional production process of
off as refinery fuel. ethylbenzene, impurities such as hydrogen
To exploit the ethylene in dry gas, DICP sultide, carbon dioxide and water vapor in
developed a process of direct alkylation of the FCC dry gas can lower the ethylbenzene
benzene with the dry gas without any special selectivity and operational life of the catalyst,
pretreatment. Application of this technology and also the quality of the ethylbenzene pro-
not only allows better exploitation of the duced. To counter these unfavorable effects,
ethylene resources in the FCC dry gas, but the catalyst was moditied with rare-earth
also addresses the problem of shortage of oxide components during its preparation and
ethylbenzene in China. treatment with steam at high temperature.
Outside China, processes using dilute The new catalyst can be used under a
ethylene to produce ethylbenzene have been wide range of reaction temperatures and low
developed. All these efforts, however, rely pressures, and allows good benzene alkyla-
on pretreatment of the dry gas to remove tion with the original dry gas. The catalyst
44 SHARING INNOVATIVE E X P E R I E N C E S
DRY GAS: E ~ I N A
V O L U M E ONE- SCIENCE A N D T E C H N O L O G Y 45
Operational results of this second plant are Lessons learned
similar to those of Refinery No. 2 of the A novel catalyst-based technology for pro-
SINOPEC Fushun Petrochemical Company. duction of ethylbenzene by alkylation of ben-
The developers of this new technology zene with dilute ethylene in FCC dry gas has
are ready to collaborate with foreign enter- been developed and commercialization in
prises on technology transfer, and to provide China has begun. The technology is simple
services including: to apply, has significant cost benefits, and is
Project proposals. environmentally friendly.
Feasibility reports. This technology can allow the ethylene
Technical consultation. resources in FCC dry gas to be exploited,
Basic, preliminary and detailed and may also be a solution to the shortage of
designs. ethylbenzene in China.
Contracting and procurement Outside China, processes using dilute
services. ethylene to produce ethylbenzene have been
Construction supervising. developed, but all rely on pre-treatment of
Commissioning of new plants. the dry gas to remove impurities.
Personnel training.
Impact
Following the initial experience in China, Application of the new technology
the developers are confident that the new through commercialization can bring the
technology is especially cost-effective and advantages of cleaner and more efficient
suitable for commercialization in other industrial processes, with ensuing cost ben-
developing countries. efit. The technology is now proven on a com-
mercial basis. 0
Partnerships
This new technology has been developed
solely in China. DICP was responsible for Implementing Institution:
creating the new catalyst, while the design Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics
and process development were the respon- Head: Yang Bailing, Director
sibility of the public partnership SINOPEC Address: Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Fushun Petrochemical Company. PO. Box 10, 116023, Dalian Zhongshan
Road 457, China
Replicability Tel.: 086-411-4671991
The manufacturing technology of the cata- Fax: 086-411-4691570
lyst has proved satisfactory for commercial- E-mail: <<hyperlinkmailto:lyx>>
scale production. Cost: government support US$2 million
46 S H A R I N G INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCES