【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】First aromatic-type moving-bed aromatization unit put into operation from 2014 to 2020

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Ten years of rapid development in chemical technology – praise for the prosperous and strong China. This is just a starting point; more participation from everyone will make things even more lively. Haichuan becomes even better with your involvement; we welcome everyone to join in the forum discussions. Be careful with fire risks as the heat increases in July. ----------------------------------------------On July 8, 2020, the Research Institute of Petrochemical Science, in collaboration with Guangzhou (Luoyang) Engineering Co., Ltd., which was responsible for the engineering design, began feeding material into the reaction unit of the 500,000 tons per year mobile-bed light naphtha aromatization unit at CNOOC Ningbo Daxie Petrochemical Co., Ltd. Qualified products were produced on July 10, and on July 12, the catalyst continuous regeneration system was successfully put into operation. This marked the successful commissioning of the world’s first aromatization unit of its kind, with fully independent intellectual property rights owned by China. 　　This technology primarily uses C3–C7 mixed light hydrocarbons as raw materials to produce benzene, toluene, and mixed xylene, with hydrogen generated as a by-product; it aims to establish a new technical approach for the efficient utilization of light hydrocarbons. As early as April 2016, the project entered the research phase. In November of that year, after the project was approved, the two parties worked closely together to begin the development of the first set of industrial installations. To overcome the drawbacks of fixed-bed light hydrocarbon aromatization processes, such as low aromatic yield, high carbon deposition, and short operating cycles, and to meet the requirements of cyclic operation and performance improvement in moving-bed processes, the Petroleum Chemical Science Research Institute has developed a new generation of spherical catalysts that do not contain precious metals and feature a high content of polymer sieves. These catalysts exhibit high reaction activity, high aromatic selectivity, high crush strength, excellent cyclic flowability and hydrothermal stability, as well as good resistance to carbon deposition and regeneration properties. 　　In view of the operational characteristics of this technology, such as the absence of hydrogen, low reaction pressure, and high reaction temperature, Guangzhou (Luoyang) Engineering Co., Ltd. has, on the one hand, carried out engineering development for reactors/regenerators with new structures, lock-hopper control systems, and absorption-stabilization product separation technologies; on the other hand, it has swiftly completed the preliminary design and detailed design of the project. At the end of May this year, after the installation was completed by CCCC, both parties sent experts and designers to the site to oversee the commissioning process, providing strong technical support for tasks such as loading the device, feeding materials in, raising temperatures, optimizing operations, and producing qualified products.