CNPC supplies sulfur recovery catalysts to Shenghong Refining & Chemicals and Zhejiang Refining & Chemicals

By relying on its strength, Zhejiang Petrochemical won the bid for catalysts for its sulfur recovery unit; this bid attracted many highly capable suppliers from both domestic and international markets. After more than two years of intense rounds of competition to evaluate various technical solutions, the Natural Gas Research Institute of Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company managed to emerge victorious in this fierce competition, thanks to its scientifically sound and rigorous technical implementation plans, as well as its high-quality technologies and products. He Zhiyong, the person in charge of bidding for this project at the Natural Gas Research Institute, said, “Such large-scale refining projects place high demands on suppliers; only advanced and reliable technologies, products of consistent quality, and professional and thorough after-sales service can ensure the safe and stable operation of petrochemical plants and enable the compliant discharge of sulfur-containing exhaust gases.” The ability to overcome strong domestic and foreign competitors in the bidding process was mainly thanks to the strong technical support provided by the Natural Gas Research Institute of the Southwest Oil and Gas Field, rigorous and scientific application solutions, high-quality products, as well as a good reputation in the market built over the years. All these factors contributed significantly to winning this bid. ”

Technology drives \"cross-sectoral\" innovation. The catalyst behind this win is the series of sulfur recovery catalysts developed independently by the Southwest Oil and Gas Field, including conventional sulfur recovery catalysts for the Claus process, low-temperature antioxidant sulfur recovery catalysts, titanium-based sulfur recovery catalysts, as well as specialized low-temperature hydrogenation catalysts for the hydrogenation reduction process in sulfur recovery. The sulfur recovery catalyst used in the Claus section primarily converts hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide present in the sulfur-containing process gas into sulfur through the Claus reaction; at the same time, it carries out deep hydrolysis of the organic sulfur present there to convert it into hydrogen sulfide. This ensures an optimal reaction rate for the conversion of sulfides into elemental sulfur, thereby reducing the risk of excessive sulfur dioxide concentrations in the exhaust gases due to the inability to completely remove organic sulfur. Application results show that this series of catalysts used in the Claus section achieves an organic sulfur hydrolysis rate of over 96%, thereby significantly improving sulfur recovery efficiency. The low-temperature hydrogenation sulfur recovery catalyst used in the reduction and absorption process for sulfur recovery from exhaust gases can effectively reduce the reaction temperature by 40–60°C and cut energy consumption by over 10%, thereby significantly lowering production costs. It also ensures that the sulfur dioxide emission concentration in the exhaust gases remains below 400 mg/m3, enabling compliant emissions; overall, this technology is at an internationally advanced level.

To date, the aforementioned series of catalysts have been successfully applied in over 120 sulfur recovery units located in Sichuan, Chongqing, Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Liaoning, Zhejiang and other regions. The annual deployment volume is around 1,500 tons, resulting in an average annual reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions of approximately 72,000 tons.

The Sichuan Basin is the birthplace of sulfur-containing natural gas purification technology in China. In December 1965, China’s first natural gas purification facility was completed, and since then, the country has embarked on research into technologies for purifying sulfur-containing natural gas. Through years of effort, Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company has also become the most capable enterprise in China to not only engage in research and development of natural gas purification technologies but also supply the corresponding solvents and catalysts.

Generally, the catalysts used for sulfur recovery in China are mainly produced by Qilu Institute and Southwest Institute, and these catalysts are mostly used within domestic systems. However, the figure of 400 emissions mentioned by Lao Yu is now generally kept at 200 or even below 100.

Now, the emission values are required to be less than 50

When the emission level is 50, the processes used can vary greatly, and some of those approaches are not advisable!

I’m not sure about the details; it was mentioned in the news. It should be the eighth floor, to be more accurate

Is this considered a breakthrough? The sulfur recovery in these two projects uses foreign technologies; moreover, does Sinopec also use domestic catalysts?