The PX production technology from toluene and methanol has been validated

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On November 30, the DTMPX technology for producing p-xylene from toluene and methanol while simultaneously generating low-carbon olefins, jointly developed by Yanchang Petroleum Group and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed the evaluation of its achievements organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation in Beijing. 　　Li Yongwu, former vice minister of the Ministry of Chemical Industry and former president of the Petrochemical Federation, attended the appraisal meeting. The appraisal committee is composed of 11 experts, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering such as Jin Yong, Wang Xieqing, and Yang Qiyeh; Jin Yong serves as the chairman of the committee, while Wang Xieqing and Yang Qiyeh serve as vice chairmen. After review, inquiries, and discussions, the experts on the evaluation committee unanimously agreed that this achievement possesses independent intellectual property rights, features strong innovation, is at the leading level among similar international technologies, and has broad application prospects. They recommended accelerating its promotion on the basis of further improving the manufacturing process, in order to establish large-scale industrial facilities as soon as possible. 　　p-Xylene is an important organic chemical raw material. Li Jun, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of the Refining and Chemicals Company of Yanchang Petroleum Group, explained that in 2017, China consumed 24 million tons of p-xylene, with imports amounting to 14 million tons; thus, the country’s dependence on imports exceeded 58%. Traditional p-xylene production primarily uses naphtha from straight distillation, hydrocracked naphtha, or ethylene cracked gasoline as raw materials, which is then extracted through aromatic compound units integrated with refining facilities. In order to develop a new technical route for producing p-xylene through toluene alkylation, Yanchang Petroleum and the Institute of Chemical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted five years of joint research and development, and built the world’s first industrial facility capable of producing 10,000 tons per year of p-xylene from toluene and methanol, along with low-carbon olefins, at the Yan’an Petrochemical Plant of Yanchang Petroleum Group. 　　It is reported that this 10,000-ton industrial testing facility began trial operations with material feeding in April this year, and completed the 72-hour industrial test evaluation in September. The test results showed that the one-way conversion rate of toluene was 26.42% ； The one-way conversion rate of methanol is 93.27% ； All technical indicators have reached the international leading level. 　　According to Xu Lei, the technical leader at the Institute of Catalysis, Chinese Academy of Sciences, this technological achievement innovatively employs new types of molecular sieve catalysts and a moving-bed process to enable the integrated production of p-xylene through petrochemical and coal chemical methods; it is also possible to use coal and natural gas as raw materials for production. This approach opens up new pathways for the manufacture of p-xylene and low-carbon olefins, providing technical support for the future development of integrated production bases for p-xylene, terephthalic acid, and polyester in China. It offers significant potential as a model for replication and has broad prospects for industrial application. Source: China Chemical Industry News