On June 20, 2019 the project “Development and commercial application of the high-stability S Zorb adsorbent” jointly undertaken by the SΙNOPEC Research Ιnstitute of Petroleum Processing (RΙPP), the SΙNOPEC Yanshan Branch Company, and the SΙNOPEC Catalyst Company, Ltd. had passed the technical appraisal of achievements organized by the Science and Technology Division of the Sinopec Corp. with a proposal on properly launching the work for dissemination and application of the said adsorbent.

The project team, after having deeply delved into the mechanism for zinc silicate formation in the course of application of the said adsorbent coupled with the study on catalytic materials, has optimized and improved the matrix with a stable layered skeleton structure capable of reducing the rate of zinc silicate formation in the adsorbent.By using the techniques for optimized selection of ZnO source, homogeneous impregnation of microspheres,and stabilization of the framework structure, the project team has developed a highly stable FCAS-ΙΙ type S Zorb adsorbent to realize the domestically sourced production.Application of the FCAS-ΙΙ type adsorbent in the 1.2 Mt/a S Zorb unit at the SΙNOPEC Beijing Yanshan Branch Company has revealed that the sulfur content of refined gasoline reached around 4.7 μg/g with the mass concentration of zinc silicate in the adsorbent equating to less than 4%, when the sulfur content in the feedstock was between 75—500 μg/g at an 100% load of the process unit and an adsorbent replacement rate of 65%.

Application of the FCAS-ΙΙ type adsorbent in the 900 kt/a S Zorb unit at the SΙNOPEC Cangzhou Branch Company has revealed that the sulfur content of refined gasoline was stabilized at around 5 μg/g, when the sulfur content in the feedstock was between 700—1 300 μg/g (which was higher than the design value) at an 70% load of the process unit and an adsorbent replacement rate of 65%, resulting in a longcycle and stable production of clean gasoline. Compared with the case using the original commercial adsorbent FCAS-R09, the octane number loss of the gasoline refined by the FCAS-ΙΙ type adsorbent was comparable, but the zinc silicate formation rate on the FCAS-ΙΙ type adsorbent was reduced by 40% to obviously enhance the stability in terms of catalytic activity and feedstock adaptability.

The experts of the Appraisal Committee after having been briefed on the development and application of the high-stability FCAS-ΙΙ type adsorbent have unanimously recognized that this project has made significant innovation and progress in improving the stability as evidenced by the catalytic activity of S Zorb adsorbent for realizing a longcycle operation of S Zorb unit. At present, this technology with independent intellectual property rights has applied for 30 Chinese invention patents, among which 21 patents have been granted to RΙPP.