Honeywell says that Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Co. will use a range of process technologies from Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Ill. www.uop.com) for the expansion of its refining and petrochemical complex at Al-Zour, south of Kuwait City.
Honeywell UOP will supply technology licenses, design services, key equipment, and state-of-the-art catalysts and adsorbents to produce clean-burning fuels, p-xylene, propylene and other petrochemicals.
“When completed, this will be the largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals plant ever constructed in Kuwait,” says John Gugel, vice president and general manager, Process Technology and Equipment at Honeywell UOP. “In addition to aromatics and propylene, the Euro-V fuels it will produce will be the cornerstone of Kuwait’s clean fuels initiative.”
The project includes a 50,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) RFCC complex with ethylene and propylene recovery, and a 24,000 bbl/d Honeywell UOP Selectfining unit to produce low-sulfur gasoline. Two Honeywell UOP Merox units will be used to treat propane for propylene production, and isobutane to make clean-fuels blending components, including MTBE produced by a UOP Ethermax unit. Also included is a Butamer unit to convert normal butane to isobutane.
The contract also includes a 66,000 bbl/d CCR Platforming unit with a 74,000 bbl/d naphtha hydrotreater to make gasoline blend stock, and an LD Parex aromatics complex — including the Honeywell UOP Sulfolane, Isomar and Tatoray processes — to make 1.4 million metric tons (m.t.) per year of p-xylene, a primary ingredient in plastics.
In addition, an Oleflex propane dehydrogenation unit will produce 660,000 m.t./yr of polymer-grade propylene — another basic component in the production of plastics, synthetic rubber and gasoline additives.