13-04-2017

Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical selects MECS® sulfuric acid regeneration unit

Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co, in China has awarded and signed contracts for the engineering, technology license and proprietary equipment for a MECS® sulfuric acid regeneration (SAR) unit, licensed by DuPont Clean Technologies.

ZPC is constructing a greenfield refinery and petrochemical project on Dayushan Island, just off the coast of eastern China, near Shanghai and Ningbo. The USD 15 billion project is the largest privately led petrochemical and refining project in China’s history. The project will be executed in two phases with the first phase coming online in late 2018. After completion, the complex will have a refining capacity of 40 million tonnes/year, or 800,000 barrels per day.

The MECS® SAR unit for the ZPC petrochemical complex will have a capacity to regenerate 858 metric tons of spent sulfuric acid. The unit will produce a combination of products consisting of 98.3 wt% sulfuric acid, 99.2 wt% sulfuric acid, and 20% oleum. Furthermore, the MECS® SAR unit is designed to meet the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection’s current emission requirements for SO2, NOx and sulfuric acid mist. Jason Hartman, global market specialist for the MECS® SAR technology said, “China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has enacted some of the most stringent point source emission requirements in the world. DuPont Clean Technologies is uniquely positioned to meet these new standards through enhancements to our MECS® SAR technology. These enhancements include the MECS® Vectorwall™ furnace, DynaWave® scrubbing and Brink® mist eliminators. When built, the SAR unit at ZPC’s petrochemical complex will achieve world-class environmental emissions, reliability and on-stream time.”

MECS® SAR technology is the leading technology for sulfuric acid regeneration in the market. This reliable, dry gas technology produces the desired sulfuric acid products for upstream alkylation, acrylonitrile and methyl methacrylate unit performance. Reliability, on-stream time and emission performance are the most important considerations when selecting SAR technology. Since the SAR unit supplies fresh sulfuric acid products to upstream units, MECS® SAR plants are designed for a high on-stream time to avoid disrupting the upstream unit’s operation and production schedule while also providing noxious emission abatement in compliance with local and country environmental requirements.

Specific to the oil and gas industry, MECS offers unique solutions for treating sour off-gas from amine treaters and sour water strippers to achieve ultra-low emissions specifications. In place of or in addition to traditional Claus SRU / TGTU facilities, these solutions can incorporate wet gas scrubbing (DynaWave®), direct wet gas conversion to sulfuric acid (SULFOX™), and/or regenerative recovery of SO2 (SolvR®). In support of our extensive customer base, DuPont Clean Technologies offers a comprehensive suite of technical services, including plant troubleshooting, turnaround support, maintenance strategy development, and plant assessments for improved operations and mechanical integrity. Our customers value our state-of-the-art products which include: Brink® mist eliminators, high-performance catalyst, DynaWave® scrubbers, MECS-ThermoZ™ air preheaters, and ZeCor® corrosion-resistant alloy piping systems and equipment for sulfuric acid plants.