The newly built oxidation process **unit at Hunan Petrochemical is operating stably

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On April 21, the newly built oxidation process plant at Hunan Petrochemical continued to operate stably, producing about 10 tons of high-quality product per hour. To date, the device has operated stably for over 72 hours on its first start-up attempt. 　　This facility is one of the new chemical plants constructed as part of the company’s caprolactam relocation and upgrading project. Civil construction work began on September 1, 2021, and the facility was fully completed on December 25, 2023, entering the production preparation phase. On April 12, the unit was started in reverse mode to introduce cyclohexanol and initiate the production process in the low-pressure unit; on April 18, air was successfully introduced into the high-pressure unit, and the unit was started successfully on the first attempt. 　　It is reported that the facility has an annual production capacity of 80,000 tons. It consists of two production units for high-pressure and low-pressure processes, and includes 13 processing steps such as heat recovery, oxidation, decomposition, separation, and treatment of oxidation exhaust gases. Using cyclohexane, which is a by-product of the lactam production process, as raw material, it employs a catalyze-free air oxidation process for cyclohexane to produce cyclohexanone, which is then supplied as a raw material for the lactam production facility. This device utilizes new catalysts and energy-saving technologies to further increase the **conversion rate, reduce by-products, and significantly cut steam consumption.