Regarding the catalysts for alkylation units

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Alkylation reactions can be divided into thermal alkylation and catalytic alkylation. The catalytic alkylation method is used in industry. I’m new to alkylation units and would like to share my thoughts and seek advice from everyone: 1. Due to environmental concerns, HF (as a catalyst) is reportedly not allowed to be used in alkylation processes. Currently, the alkylation projects that are in use mostly employ sulfuric acid as a catalyst. As far as I know, Sinopec’s Wuhan Petrochemical and Yanshan Petrochemical, as well as CNPC’s Dalian Petrochemical, have used the HF-based method; it’s unclear whether these companies’ facilities meet current environmental standards. 2. Panjin Haoye, Panjin Yuanfu Chemical’s Liaobin branch, and others each have 200,000-ton capacity alkylation units using the sulfuric acid method (already built); CNPC’s Jinxī Petrochemical has a similar facility under construction. The advantage of the sulfuric acid alkylation method is the abundance of acid resources and its low cost. However, sulfuric acid corrodes equipment; the alkylation process using sulfuric acid consumes large amounts of acid, generating significant acid waste that pollutes the environment, which necessitates the installation of facilities for acid recycling. UOP possesses technology for using solid acids as alkylation catalysts. It is not clear which domestic companies have utilized this technology to date; discussions on this topic are welcome.