CNPC accelerates environmental protection efforts in its refining operations; during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, it will use its own technologies to completely eliminate alkaline slag from oil refining processes

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This post was last edited by B0SS on 2016-11-21 at 19:28. CNPC has developed a new technology for desulfurization without slag generation; the LDS technology is at an internationally leading level. Published by CNPC News Center on 2016-11-18 at 07:30. According to CNPC News Network (reporter Wang Qiaoran), on November 15, it was learned from CNPC’s Research Institute of Petrochemicals that at the beginning of November, a meeting to assess the results of CNPC’s “environment-friendly ultra-gravity liquefied gas deep desulfurization (LDS) technology” and to promote this technology was held in Qingyang, Gansu Province. The LDS technology developed by the Petrochemical Research Institute, which enables deep desulfurization of liquefied gas without slag generation, has received high praise. This marks another quality, environment, and technology tool from the Petrochemical Research Institute entering a period of accelerated large-scale adoption. 　　After careful evaluation by the appraisal committee, which includes organizations such as the Technology Assessment Center and the Advisory Center, it was unanimously concluded that the \"environmentally friendly supergravity liquefied gas deep desulfurization technology package\" is a world first; its economic and technical indicators for long-term operation are advanced, placing it at the international leading level, with significant economic and social benefits. In particular, the environmental benefits of LDS technology are highly significant; its adoption should be accelerated first to encourage enterprises to fulfill their social responsibilities better. 　　In the production and application of high-value-added products in the refining industry, liquefied gas serves as an important raw material for producing MTBE, polypropylene, etc. Currently, the Merox alkaline extraction method, also known as the \"alkaline process\", is used in 90% of liquefied gas desulfurization units. However, the disulfides produced by this process cannot be efficiently separated from the alkaline solution, leading to back-carriage; incomplete regeneration of the alkaline solution results in frequent replacement with new alkali, which in turn causes large amounts of alkaline slag to be discharged, representing a technical bottleneck for the \"alkaline method\". 　　After 10 years of fundamental research, development of complete sets of technologies, industrial design, and industrial testing, Sinopec has independently developed the LDS technology through the efforts of its Petrochemical Research Institute, with the support of departments such as the Refining and Chemicals Division and the Science and Technology Management Department. This technology achieves three objectives: deep desulfurization of liquefied gas, significant reduction in alkali slag emissions, and improvement in product quality. The industrial testing facility leads in terms of technical economy, as well as safety and environmental protection indicators among similar technologies, and passed production calibration in 2015. 　　It is estimated that by 2020, China’s liquefied petroleum gas production will reach 30.3 million tons, while the global production will exceed 200 million tons. The successful development of LDS technology will help improve the quality and efficiency of China’s petroleum refining industry, and it will also play a significant role in the improvement of gasoline quality as well as in efforts to save energy and protect the environment in our country.