【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】China Petrochemical’s first ion liquid alkylation project was completed in 2018
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Ten years of rapid development in chemical engineering technology – praising the prosperity and strength of modern China. This is just a starting point to encourage more people to participate and make the discussion more lively. With you here, HaiChuan becomes even better. [Ten years of development in chemical engineering equipment] – continuous updates and summaries available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html. Enhance quality awareness and promote high-quality development. ----------------------------------------- On December 30, 2018, the 300,000-ton/year alkylation project at Jiujiang Petrochemical was completed, marking the end of the construction phase and the beginning of the preparation for production. This project is one of the key projects of Sinopec Group. It is the first large-scale industrial alkylation plant in China to adopt the ionic liquid process, and it is also the first plant of its kind under construction within the group to complete construction. The design of the main units for the 300,000 tons per year alkylation project was carried out by Sinopec Engineering Construction Company; Jiujiang Petrochemical Design and Engineering Co., Ltd. was responsible for the design of the supporting systems, while Sinopec Nanjing Engineering Company handled the construction work. The civil construction work for this project began in February 2018, steel structure installation started in June, and the lifting of large components was completed in November. During the nearly one-year construction period, all the participating units overcame various difficulties such as delays in design and equipment delivery, tight scheduling for on-site work, and limited space. By working together and continuously optimizing the construction schedule, they managed to achieve the goals related to progress, quality, and safety – the so-called “five key controls” – on schedule. At present, the preparatory work for commencing operations, such as individual tests of the equipment’s motors and pipeline washing, has been fully launched. It is planned to have all conditions met for production to start by the Lunar New Year in 2019. The 300,000 tons/year alkylation unit utilizes the ionic liquid alkylation technology from China University of Petroleum (Beijing). The process package was jointly developed by Sinopec Engineering Construction Co., Ltd., China University of Petroleum, and Jiujiang Petrochemical. The alkylated oil produced is used as a component in gasoline blending. The main unit consists of a raw material pretreatment section, a reaction, sedimentation, and separation section, an effluent treatment and refrigeration/compression section, a product distillation and purification section, and an ionic liquid regeneration section. Once the project is put into operation, it will effectively address the issues faced by Jiujiang Petrochemical during the gasoline quality upgrade in Phase VI, such as insufficient octane rating and high levels of aromatics and olefins. It will meet the company’s requirements for upgrading gasoline quality to meet National VI standards, further optimize the structure of gasoline and diesel products, enhance the company’s economic efficiency and risk resistance, and ensure that the markets in Jiangxi and surrounding areas have access to high-standard, high-quality clean gasoline.
【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】The world’s first industrial-scale ion liquid alkylation plant was successfully commissioned between 2017 and 2018. https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-4883021-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)
On March 31, 2019, the 300,000-ton/year alkylation unit at Jiujiang Petrochemical produced qualified alkylated oil products, marking the successful first operation of China’s largest alkylation unit of its kind and the first such unit operated by Sinopec. This achievement laid a solid foundation for the company to further improve the quality of its National VI-grade automotive gasoline products. The civil foundation work for Jiujiang Petrochemical’s 300,000 tons per year alkylation unit was completed on June 30, 2018 ； On December 30, 2018, after nearly a year of intensive construction, Jiujiang Petrochemical’s 300,000 tons per year alkylation project was completed as scheduled, marking the basic finish of its construction work and the official transition into the production preparation phase. This project is one of the key projects of Sinopec. It is the first large-scale industrial alkylation unit in the country to utilize the ionic liquid process, and it is also the first unit of its kind under construction within the group to achieve completion.
Since 2000, the research teams led by Professors Xu Chunming and Liu Zhichang have, with the support of projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China National Petroleum Corporation, Shell Oil Company, and the university itself, carried out fundamental research, pilot-scale tests, and industrial scale-up by focusing on ion liquid carbon tetraalkylation – the intersection of the two research areas of clean fuel production and ionic liquid catalysis. The research team originally designed and synthesized a composite ionic liquid catalyst with high activity and high selectivity ； A quantitative detection method for ionic liquid activity was developed, as well as a regeneration technique for stepwise coordinated control of the replenishment of B-acid/L-acid active components ； New types of reactors and separation equipment specifically designed for the alkylation of ionic liquids have been developed, integrating processes such as raw material pretreatment, catalytic reaction, ionic liquid regeneration, and separation and recovery. This has resulted in a composite ionic liquid carbon tetraalkylation process technology with complete independent intellectual property rights. This technological process breaks the technical monopoly held by foreign companies in the production of clean gasoline; it overcomes a global challenge that has plagued the refining industry for decades. The overall technology is at the international leading level. It has been granted 17 Chinese invention patents and 30 international invention patents. It won the Special Prize for Technical Invention from the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation in 2014, as well as the Second Prize for Technical Invention in 2017. It was also included among the top ten scientific and technological achievements of Chinese universities in 2014. The institutions currently conducting research on ionic liquid alkylation technology include: UOP (which acquired Chevron’s ISOALKY ionic liquid alkylation technology in 2017), Shell, China University of Petroleum, Peking University, the University of Cincinnati in the United States, the French Petroleum Research Institute, and Nanjing Boming Technology Co., Ltd.
【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】Successful industrial trial of China’s first domestically developed propylene oxide production plant using the co-oxidation method, 259–2020 https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-4883040-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)
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