New Japan Petroleum revises its aromatic hydrocarbon production process

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According to a report in Japan’s Chemical Industry Daily dated December 26, 2008, Nippon Oil Corporation has independently developed the Z-Foaming technology for producing aromatics using light naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as raw materials. By developing acid-adjusted zeolite catalysts, it was successfully achieved to suppress coking, improve aromatic selectivity, and achieve high activity. However, the greatest breakthrough in catalyst performance has not yet been achieved. Although successes have been achieved in suppressing gas generation and increasing the liquid yield to over 60%, the difference between the raw material cost of light naphtha (as predicted based on past market data) and the product revenue means that the new generation of aromatic production processes still do not offer good economic viability. Therefore, Nippon Oil will, while maintaining the excellent advantages of this process technology, study directional changes including those to the raw materials, and the “Z-Foaming technology” will also make its appearance in a new form.