Technology Innovation
Catalyst
Sinopec SANC Acrylonitrile Catalyst
Mo-Bi based multi-component metal oxides are used as the catalyst to produce acrylonitrile by propylene ammoxidation process.
The SANC series catalyst is composed of active multi-component metal oxides and silica oxide support. The active composite of the catalyst is a Mo-Bi based oxide, which is mainly composed of molybdenum, bismuth, iron, etc. Mo and bi are the main active sites, while the other elements such as Fe ensure the redox performance of the catalyst. Since the catalyst is used in the fluidized-bed reactor for acrylonitrile production, the catalyst consists of microsphere particles with a typical particle size distribution. The catalyst developed by SINOPEC is highly active and selective for producing acrylonitrile. Under the optimized operation conditions, enhanced nitrile yield (including acrylonitrile, acetonitrile and hydrogen cyanide) and higher stability of the catalyst can be achieved with reduced by-products.
Sinopec Toluene Disproportionation and Transalkylation Catalysts
The series of toluene disproportionation and transalkylation catalysts developed by Sinopec Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology (SRIPT) are composed of metal modified zeolites, which can convert toluene and C9+ aromatics to high quality benzene and xylene by disproportionation, transalkylation and hydrodealkylation reactions.
Metal modified nano zeolites are adopted in SRIPT's toluene disproportionation and transalkylation catalysts. Nano zeolites can not only release the acid sites, but also create hierarchical pores and relieve internal diffusion limitations in microspores. Thus the catalyst exhibits high selectivity and activity as well as excellent processing capacity of heavy aromatics. According to the commercial experience, the service life of the catalyst is more than 5 years, depending on the feedstock conditions. Furthermore, the toluene shape selective disproportionation catalyst with a para-selectivity of 93% has also been developed. It was commercialized in a 670 KTA plant in 2007 for the first time.
Sinopec Methanol to Olefins Catalyst (S-MTO catalyst)
The S-MTO technology uses coal or natural gas as raw materials to produce light olefins via methanol. S-MTO technology can be applied in coal-to-olefins or gas-to-olefins processes, PVC process, coking process, etc. S-MTO catalyst is one of the key components in this process.
S-MTO catalyst utilizes the SAPO-34 molecular sieve as the active component, which has excellent diffusion ability and high activity. Under the industrial operation conditions, the methanol conversion is above 99.9%, and the selectivity of propylene and ethylene is above 82 wt%. Other co-products include a small amount of C1−C4 paraffins and C5+ hydrocarbons which are mainly olefins. The catalyst can be operated with very high WHSV; therefore the reactor size could be small. According to the commercial experience, the catalyst service life is more than 5 years.
Sinopec Olefin Catalytic Cracking (OCC) Catalyst
Proprietary full-crystalline zeolite catalyst is developed to convert streams containing C4/C5 olefins from MTO, crackers and refineries to high value propylene and ethylene by Olefin Catalytic Cracking (OCC) process.
OCC catalyst utilizes the unique ZSM-5 zeolite as the major composition. It is found to not only release the acid sites imprisoned by binders, but also create hierarchical pores and relieve internal diffusion limitations in microspores. Thus OCC catalyst exhibits excellent selectivity and activity, and the typical yield of propylene and ethylene is approximately 75 wt%. Other co-products include gasoline and a small amount of C1−C4 paraffins. The catalyst can be operated with high WHSV, so the reactor size and operating costs are notably minimized. The coking tendency on the catalyst in the OCC reaction is low and the catalyst cycle length is 2 d−7 d. According to the industrial experience, the service life of catalyst is more than 1 year.
Sinopec AB, SEB and EBC Catalysts for Ethylbenzene Production
AB catalyst is designed for benzene alkylation with pure ethylene in a vapor-phase fixed-bed reactor to produce ethylbenzene and SEB series catalyst is developed for benzene alkylation with dilute ethylene from refinery off-gas. EBC series catalyst is developed for benzene alkylation with pure ethylene in a liquid-phase fixed-bed reactor to produce ethylbenzene.
ZSM-5 zeolite is employed as the active component in the AB series catalyst. With abundant macropores and mesopores in the catalyst, the reactants can easily diffuse through to reach the active sites located in the micropores. Hydrothermal treatment and acid leaching modification are performed to remove the Lewis acid sites to inhibit side reactions. The catalyst shows a very stable performance in terms of ethylene conversion and selectivity. The cycle length and total service lifetime of the catalyst are more than 2 year and 4 years, respectively.
The SEB series catalyst is carefully designed with unique morphology of ZSM zeolite and therefore the diffusion limitation is substantially reduced. Compared with the conventional coffin-like zeolite, whose diffusion limitation is significant, less monoalkylbenzene is present in the interiors of the unique zeolite crystals because of the improved mass transfer. Therefore the undesired reaction between monoalkylbenzene and alkylation agent molecules to produce polyalkylbenzenes and other by-products is reduced, leading to the improved activity and selectivity. The cycle length and total service lifetime of the catalyst are more than 1.5 year and 3 years respectively.
SCM-1 zeolite is used as the active component for the EBC series catalyst. The delaminated SCM-1 possesses ultra-large external surface areas. Therefore the EBC series catalyst exhibits excellent performance. The cycle length and total service lifetime of the catalyst are more than 3 years and 6 years respectively.
Sinopec GS Series Dehydrogenation Catalysts for Styrene Production
Sinopec styrene monomer production technology by ethylbenzene dehydrogenation is to convert ethylbenzene to styrene monomer in vacuum adiabatic atmosphere. Ethylbenzene is dehydrogenated to styrene and hydrogen over the GS catalyst in the presence of steam.
The GS series catalysts developed by Sinopec are based on iron oxides promoted with potassium. Potassium, as the main promoter, can increase the activity by more than one order of magnitude and also slightly improve the selectivity to styrene and stability of the catalyst. Other metal oxides have been employed as supplemental promoters too, including oxides of cerium, molybdenum, calcium, magnesium, titanium, etc. The GS series catalysts for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation to produce styrene have exhibited high activity, selectivity and excellent stability. Under the optimized industrial operation conditions, the ethylbenzene conversion is about 65% and styrene selectivity is above 97%. The catalyst can be operated with very high LHSV. According to the commercial experiences, the catalyst service life is more than 3 years.
Sinopec Cumene Catalysts (MP-01/MP-02)
Sinopec Cumene Catalysts are used to produce cumene by benzene alkylation with propylene.
MP-01 catalyst and MP-02 catalyst are designed for alkylation and transalkylation respectively in the cumene prodcution process. MP-01 is for alkylation benzene with propylene in a fixed bed reactor which is divided into four catalyst beds, leading to the high selectivity to cumene and very low formation of undesired byproducts. MP-02 is for transalkylation in a separate fixed fed reactor where all polyisopropylbenzene is converted to cumene. The feedstock pretreatment is designed to remove any materials that may poison catalyst. The high performance of MP-01 and MP-02 comes from a special distribution of acid sites and a unique layered organic hybrid-zeolite.
Process Technology
Sinopec Advanced Cumene Technology (S-ACT)
The cumene technology, developed by Sinopec is used to produce high-purity cumene by liquid-phase alkylation with the proprietary zeolite catalyst.
Sinopec Cumene Technology consists of alkylation, transalkylation and distillation units. MP-01 catalyst and MP-02 catalyst are used in the alkylation and transalkylation units respectively.
Sinopec Methanol to Olefins Technology (S-MTO)
The S-MTO technology uses coal or natural gas as raw materials to produce light olefins via methanol. S-MTO technology can be applied in coal-to-olefins or gas-to-olefins processes.
The S-MTO process includes a methanol conversion section and a light olefins recovery section. The methanol conversion section includes a raw material preheating unit, a reaction-regeneration unit, a quenching unit and a heat recovery unit. The light olefins recovery section includes a product gas compression unit, a cold separation unit, a hot separation unit and a propylene refrigeration compressor unit.
Sinopec Olefin Catalytic Cracking Technology for Production of Propylene and Ethylene (OCC)
The Olefin Catalytic Cracking process (OCC) developed by Sinopec is a novel route to produce high value propylene and ethylene from streams containing C4/C5 olefins from MTO, crackers, and refineries with proprietary full crystalline zeolite catalyst.
OCC process mainly consists of four process units: a selective hydrogenation unit (SHU), a swing reactor unit, a compressor unit, and a separation unit. SHU is designed to selectively hydrogenate the diolefins in the fresh feedstock, and after selective hydrogenation the fresh feedstock is vaporized and mixed with recycled stream; after being further heated against the reactor effluent in a heater, the mixture enters into the fixed-bed reactor. After being cooled, the reactor effluent is separated in a depropanizer and a debutanizer, respectively. A swing reactor unit is used for the catalyst regeneration.
Sinopec Vapor Phase Alkylation of Benzene and Ethylene to Ethylbenzene（SVEB）
The process converts benzene and ethylene to ethylbenzene through vapor-phase alkylation.
The process consists of alkylation, transalkylation, fractionation and distillation systems.
Sinopec Styrene Monomer Production Technology by Ethylbenzene Dehydrogenation (S-SMT)
This technology is for ethylbenzene conversion to styrene monomer in vacuum adiabatic atmosphere.
The process consists of a two-stage ethylbenzene dehydrogenation system, a stripping system of process condensate for dehydrogenated mixture/water, an absorber stripper for vent gas, a dehydrogenated mixture fractionation/distillation system (including a vacuum system), a polymerization inhibitor system, and tanks for feeds and product.
Intellectual Property Protection
Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology has been committed to the development and protection of independent intellectual property rights. SRIPT pays great attention to IP protection, and takes into consideration IP protection throughout the whole process of R&D. By building the IP protection system and structuring the protection network for core R&D projects, SRIPT has successfully transformed its R&D achievements. The number of applied and granted domestic patents has been continuously rising in recent years. By the end of 2020, SRIPT had applied for 7612 China patents and had been granted 4357.
SRIPT has also applied for 644 foreign patents and has been granted 397. The IP protection now covers more than 20 foreign countries, such as USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Japan, Singapore, India, Australia and Brazil.
In 2014, SRIPT won the award of the 16th China Gold Patent for its invention of C4 olefins catalytic cracking to produce propylene. By 2020, SRIPT had totally won 5 awards for China Gold Patent, 1 award for China Silver Patent, and 13 awards for Excellent China Patent.