DuPont Clean Technologies (Wilmington, Del.) announced that the Stratco alkylation unit at the Sinopec Qilu refinery in Zibo, Shandong Province, China, successfully completed the performance test, certifying that the unit is meeting required performance guarantees. The Stratco alkylation unit at Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Qilu) is designed to produce 400,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr; 10,300 bbl/d) of alkylate product from a MTBE raffinate feedstock and enables production of low-sulfur, high-octane, low-Rvp alkylate with zero olefins that meets the criteria of the China V standard.
“It is our great pleasure to see this successful collaboration between DuPont and Sinopec come to fruition. In order to meet extreme plot space limitations within the refinery complex, DuPont worked to design and fabricate the Model 74 Contactor reactor, reducing equipment count and providing high reliability to Sinopec. We are very pleased with the implementation of this larger reactor, affording Sinopec Qilu the high on-stream time they have come to expect from our technology. As Sinopec continues to drive towards lower emission specifications, DuPont was excited to assist with a custom-designed solution,” said Kevin Bockwinkel, global business manager, Stratco alkylation technology.
The Sinopec Qilu refinery marks the first commercialization of the innovative Model 74 Contactor reactors. Fundamentally, the same as commercially operating reactors in service throughout the world, the Model 74 Contactor reactors reduce the total number of reactors and plot space required for Stratco alkylation units and result in an overall lower capital cost.
The Model 74 Contactor reactor includes the latest reactor improvements and each has a volume of 68.1 m3 (18,000 gallons), increasing volume from the standard size Contactor™ (Model 63) at 43.5 m3 (11,500 gallons) per reactor.
The Stratco alkylation technology is a sulfuric acid-catalyzed process that converts low-value, straight-chain olefins (propylene, butylene and amylene) into high-value, branched components called alkylate.