27-01-2017

Sinopec license alkylation technology from DuPont Clean Technologies

DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont) announces that China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) has awarded DuPont the license and engineering contract for its STRATCO® Alkylation Technology. The new unit is to be located at the existing Sinopec Tianjin Company (TPCC) refinery in the Tianjin Binhai New Area district. The addition of the STRATCO® sulfuric acid alkylation unit will improve the quality of the existing refinery gasoline pool to ensure compliance with the China V standard. 

Designed by DuPont, the STRATCO® alkylation technology is the established global leader in the industry with over 90 units licensed worldwide and more than 850,000 BPSD (33,300 kmta) of installed capacity. For more than 80 years, the STRATCO® technology has helped refineries safely produce cleaner-burning fuel with high octane, low Rvp, low sulfur and zero olefins.

Construction of the new 7,700-bpsd (300-kmta) alkylation unit is expected to begin in early 2017 with TPCC aiming for start-up by late 2017 or early 2018.  TPCC is the largest oil refiner in North China with primary crude oil processing capacity of 15.5 million tons per year.

The STRATCO® alkylation unit will be designed to meet TPCC’s requirements and will include the latest innovations from DuPont, which provide superior product quality, reduced catalyst consumption and reduced utility requirements. Along with the license and engineering package, DuPont also will provide proprietary equipment and operator training/commissioning assistance for the alkylation unit.

Kevin Bockwinkel, global business manager for the STRATCO® alkylation technology said, “We look forward to working with Sinopec and TPCC and enhancing our strong relationship with the addition of a STRATCO® alkylation unit at Tianjin.  The new unit will enable the refinery to produce clean fuel safely and reliably while improving the overall gasoline pool quality.  We have STRATCO® alkylation units operating at almost 100 locations around the world – with some in operation since the 1940s, so we value Sinopec’s commitment to utilizing best-in-class technology.”

The STRATCO® alkylation technology is licensed and marketed by DuPont as part of its Clean Technologies portfolio in Overland Park, Kan. DuPont is committed to alkylation research and has extensive experience in assisting refiners with alkylation design, start-ups, test runs, troubleshooting, optimization, revamps, expansions, analytical testing, operator training, turnarounds and HAZOP studies.  The STRATCO® Contactor™ reactor is the key to the technology’s superior product quality, reliability and operability.  DuPont continuously produces improvements in the design of the Contactor™ reactor with the most recent being the patented XP2 technology.