Aromatics Complex

Aromatics

Aromatics
Application CCR Platforming™ Process - Selectively reforms
An aromatics complex is a combination of process units naphtha to aromatics (BTX) and high purity hydrogen
which are used to convert naphtha, from a variety of ED Sulfolane™ Process - Extracts benzene and
sources, and pyrolysis gasoline into the basic petro- toluene from the reformate using an extractive distillation
chemical intermediates: benzene, toluene, and xylenes flowscheme, (Liquid-Liquid Extraction can also be
(BTX). Benzene is a building applied for certain feedstocks)
block for over 250 products,
including ethyl benzene (for Tatoray™ Process - Disproportionates toluene and
styrene), cumene (for phenol), transalkylates toluene with C9 /C10+ aromatics to benzene
and cyclohexane. Toluene has and xylenes
become increasingly valuable UOP THDA Process - Thermal hydrodealkylation of
for the production of xylenes toluene and heavier aromatics to benzene
through toluene disproportion-
ation and transalkylation with Parex™ Process - Separates high purity para-xylene
C9/C10 aromatics. If benzene from mixed C8 aromatics isomers
is favored over toluene, a por-
Isomar™ Process - Re-establishes an equilibrium mix-
tion of the toluene produced
ture of isomers via xylene isomerization and conversion
can be used to make addi-
of ethyl benzene to benzene or xylenes
tional benzene through
hydrodealkylation. The xylenes product contains four dif- The choice between the THDA and Tatoray processes
ferent C8 isomers: para-xylene, ortho-xylene, meta- depends upon whether the principal product is benzene
xylene, and ethyl benzene. The majority of the xylenes or para-xylene and their relative values. The incorpora-
are processed further within the complex to produce one tion of a Tatoray unit into the complex can more than
or more of the individual isomers. The isomer with the double the yield of para-xylene from a given feedstock.
broadest commercial use is para-xylene, which is used THDA is considered when incremental benzene is pre-
almost exclusively for the production of polyester fibers, ferred to increased xylenes production. THDA is usually
resins, and films. Ortho-xylene is used for the produc- the most costly source of benzene, relative to other
tion of phthalic anhydride, typically used as a plasti- production options, and for that reason is less commonly
cizer. Meta-xylene applied to a modern aromatics complex.
is used for the production of iso-phthalic acid, which is
gaining broader acceptance in PET resin blends. Alternative configuration
Production of meta-xylene is addressed separately in Another option would be to add an RZ PlatformingTM unit
the MX Sorbex™ datasheet. Ethyl benzene is converted to the flow scheme to allow additional benzene/toluene
to benzene or xylenes within the aromatics complex. production. The RZ Platforming unit would process a
light naphtha cut to convert C6/C7 paraffins to benzene
Typical configuration and toluene. There are a variety of flowschemes which
The configuration of a complex depends upon the could be considered such as recycling the nonaromatic
available feedstock, the desired product slate, and the ED Sulfolane raffinate back to the RZ Platforming unit to
amount of investment capital. A fully integrated modern produce additional aromatics. See the RZ Platforming
complex designed to produce benzene, para-xylene, Tech Sheet for additional details
and ortho-xylene from naphtha typically contains the
following UOP process technologies: Process description
The principal products from the aromatics complex
UOP Naphtha Hydrotreating Process - Removes
illustrated in the flow diagram are benzene, para-xylene,
sulfur and nitrogen contaminants in the naphtha
and ortho-xylene. If desired, a fraction of the toluene,
Aromatics Complex 2

mixed xylenes, or C9+ aromatics can be taken as prod- Heavy Aromatics column, and charged to the Tatoray
ucts. Also, some of the reformate may be used as a unit for production of additional xylenes and benzene.
high-octane gasoline blending component rather than The effluent from the Tatoray unit is sent to a stripper
for petrochemicals production. column within the Tatoray unit to remove light ends,
then recycled to the BT fractionation section.
The naphtha is first hydrotreated to remove sulfur and
nitrogen compounds and then sent to a CCR Alternatively, the toluene and heavy aromatics can also
Platforming unit. In the CCR Platforming unit, paraffins be charged to a THDA unit for production of benzene.
and naphthenes are converted to aromatics. This is the The effluent from the THDA unit is stripped to remove
only unit in the complex that actually creates aromatic light ends and sent to the BT fractionation section.
rings from nonaromatics. The other
units in the complex either separate UOP Aromatics Complex
the various aromatic components
into individual products or convert Raffinate
Hydrogen Sulfolane
various aromatics species into
Reformate Benzene
higher-value aromatics products. Splitter Toluene
Platforming
The CCR Platforming unit is THDA Heavy
Bz Tol Aromatics
designed to run at very high severity, Col Col Col
producing 104 -108 Research NHT
Octane Number (RONC) reformate, Tatoray
in order to maximize the production Heavy Aromatics
Naphtha
of aromatics. This high severity oper- para-Xylene
ation also greatly reduces nonaro- Light Ends
matic impurities in the C8 fraction of Parex Isomar
the reformate, eliminating the need Xylenes
Splitter ortho-Xylene
for extraction of the C8 aromatics.
DeHept
The CCR Platforming unit is also a Column
OX
significant provider of hydrogen Column
makeup within the aromatics com-
plex, with the bulk of the hydrogen
available for export from the complex
to the refinery. The CCR Platforming
unit includes a debutanizer column, which strips off the
The overhead material from the Tatoray stripper or
light ends from the reformate.
THDA stripper column is separated into gas and liquid
The reformate from the debutanizer column bottoms is products. The overhead gas is exported to the fuel gas
sent to a reformate splitter column. The C7- fraction from system, and the overhead liquid is normally recycled
the overhead is sent to the ED Sulfolane unit for extrac- back to the benzene column for recovery of residual
tion of benzene and toluene. The ED Sulfolane unit benzene.
extracts the aromatics from the reformate splitter over-
The C8+ fraction from the bottom of the reformate splitter
head and rejects an aromatics-free raffinate stream,
is treated to reduce olefin content and then charged to a
which can be further refined into paraffinic solvents,
xylenes column at the front end of the xylenes recovery
blended into gasoline or used as feedstock for an ethyl-
section. The overhead from the xylenes column is sent to
ene plant. The aromatics extract is treated to remove
the Parex unit for recovery of para-xylene. The bottoms is
trace olefins, and then individual high-purity benzene
sent to the Heavy Aromatics column, where the A9/A10
and toluene products are recovered in the BT fractiona-
fraction is recovered and then recycled to the Tatoray or
tion section of the complex. Benzene is recovered as
THDA unit. If there is no Tatoray or THDA unit, the A9+
overheads from the benzene column, with C7+ material
material is usually blended into gasoline or fuel oil.
flowing from the benzene column bottoms to the toluene
column. The C8+ material from the bottom of the toluene If ortho-xylene is to be produced in the complex, the
column is sent to the xylenes recovery section of the xylenes column is designed to make a split between meta-
complex. Toluene from the toluene column overhead is and ortho-xylene and drop a targeted amount of ortho-
usually blended with A9/A10 from the overhead of the xylene (OX) to the bottoms. The xylenes column bottoms
Aromatics Complex 3

are then sent to an OX column where high purity ortho- provision of engineering and technical services. Through
xylene product is recovered overhead. The bottoms of the close contact and continuous support from the time the
OX column are then sent to the Heavy Aromatics column. plant is in its basic design and throughout its operating
lifetime, our licensees are able to understand how to
The xylenes column overhead is sent directly to the
apply the technology to their plant and keep it running
Parex unit, where 99.9 wt-% pure para-xylene is recov-
safely and reliably.
ered by adsorptive separation at 97 wt-% recovery per
pass. Any residual toluene in the extract is fractionated
Case study
out in the finishing column within the Parex unit, and
then recycled to the Tatoray or THDA unit. The raffinate Feed Basis: Mid East Naphtha Heartcut
from the Parex unit is almost entirely depleted of para- Product objectives: Maximize para-xylene production
xylene, to a level of less than 1 wt-%. The Parex raffi- Naphtha Feedstock Properties
nate is sent to the Isomar unit, where additional Feed, specific gravity 0.753
para-xylene is produced by re-establishing an equilib- IBP, °C 82
rium distribution of xylene isomers. Ethyl benzene in the EP, °C 176
Parex unit raffinate is either converted to additional P/N/A (wt-%) 48/37/15
xylenes or dealkylated to benzene, depending upon the
type of Isomar catalyst used. The effluent from the Overall Material Balance, KMTA
Isomar unit is sent to a deheptanizer column. The bottoms Feed naphtha 1535
from the deheptanizer are recycled back to the xylenes
Products
column. In this way, all the C8 aromatics are continually
recycled within the xylenes recovery section of the Benzene 238
complex until they exit the aromatics complex as para- Para-xylene 700
xylene, ortho-xylene, or benzene. The overhead from Ortho-xylene 100
the deheptanizer is split into gas and liquid products. Heavies 9
The overhead gas is exported to the fuel gas system Sulfolane raffinate 174
and the overhead liquid is normally recycled back to the Pure hydrogen 40
benzene column for recovery of residual benzene. LPG 22
Light ends 252
Features and benefits 1535

Lowest investment and operating cost - The combina- Estimated Erected Cost, MM US$ 290
tion of UOP’s engineering practices, vast design experi- (Inside battery limits only, 2006 US Gulf Coast basis)
ence and operational experience, result in the economic
Utility Consumption
optimization of our designs, which allows our licensees to
build plants with the lowest investment and operating costs. Electric power, kW 26,953
Medium pressure steam, MT/hr 152
Maximum reliability and operability from experience
Cooling water, m3/hr 1,479
- UOP licensees benefit from our extensive database of
operating plants, which allows licensees to reliably operate Fuel fired, MMkcal/hr* 54
* credit not taken for heating value of light ends
the technology under a wide range of economic conditions.

Continued R&D investment in technology - New Commercial experience

catalysts, adsorbents and process improvements are
UOP is the world’s leading licensor of process tech-
continuously being developed by UOP. Licensees can
nology for aromatics production. As of 2006, UOP has
benefit from these developments to keep their plants on
licensed more than 725 separate process units for
the forefront of technology improvements, which result
aromatics production including over 238 CCR
in real economic benefit in the form of reduced operating
Platforming units, 147 Sulfolane units, 89 extraction
and feedstock costs and increased capacity. Recent
units using other technology (UdexTM/Carom), 88 Parex
developments have enabled capital cost reductions of
units, 68 Isomar units, 48 Tatoray units, and 38 THDA
more than 15% from the previous generation aromatics
units. UOP has designed 88 integrated aromatics com-
complex design.
plexes which produce both benzene and para-xylene.
Superior technology transfer and support - UOP trans- These complexes range in size from 21,000 to
fers technology to our licensees primarily through our 1,700,000 MTA. Since the introduction of Parex in 1971
Aromatics Complex 4

UOP has been selected for 90% of the para-xylene

capacity built.

In addition to licensing new facilities, UOP also has

extensive experience revamping existing aromatics
complexes to achieve higher capacity or better operat-
ing efficiency. UOP undertakes several major aromatics
complex revamp projects every year. These projects
cover a broad range of possibilities, such as the addition
of toluene disproportionation or para-xylene recovery
sections into existing complexes, installing parallel
process unit trains, debottlenecking projects, and
revamping individual units for higher capacity, improved
product qualities, or improved energy efficiency.

For more information

Aromatics technology services are available upon
request. For more information, contact your local UOP
representative or our Des Plaines sales office:

e-mail: [email protected]
fax: +1-847-391-2253
phone: +1-847-391-2000

UOP LLC
25 East Algonquin Road
© 2006 UOP LLC. All rights reserved.
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5017 The information in this document should not be construed as a representation for
which UOP assumes legal responsibility, or an authorization or recommendation
U.S.A. to practice a patented invention without a license.
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