Clariant contract for world-scale unit

CLARIANT has been awarded a contract to help develop the world’s largest single-train co-processing dehydrogenation unit at a massive new chemicals complex under development in China.

The specialty chemicals maker has been awarded the contract by Hengli Petrochemical to develop a propane and butane dehydrogenation unit in co-operation with CB&I at the Changxing Island Economic Zone. The project includes the licence and engineering design of the co-processing unit to convert 300,000 t/y of propane into propylene and 600,000 t/y of isobutene into isobutylene.

The design will use CB&I’s Catofin catalytic dehydrogenation technology and Clariant’s catalyst system. This includes Clariant’s ‘heat generating material’ – a metal oxide that is loaded into the catalyst bed with the catalyst where it undergoes oxidation and reduction during the operating cycle, producing heat and driving the dehydrogenation reaction. This significantly increases the selectivity and yield of Catofin units, Clariant says.

The contract forms part of a massive construction effort on a new refinery complex on which Hengli Group broke ground in December. The US$11.5bn refinery and petrochemical complex will process 20m t/y of crude oil and will be completed in two and half years, China Daily reports.