Till July21, 2020 the adsorption section of the aromatics integrated unit at the SINOPEC Tianjin Petrochemical Branch Company has been smoothly operating for two weeks after using the para-xylene (PX) adsorbent RAX-3000 independently developed by the SINOPEC Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP). The test results have shown that the PX purity is always higher than 99.7%. So far, the Tianjin aromatics integrated unit now operates by completely applying SINOPEC’s catalysts with independent intellectual property rights.

This aromatics integrated unit consisting of 7 facilities,including pre-hydrotreating, continuous catalytic reforming, aromatics extraction, xylene fractionation,disproportionation, adsorptive separation, and xylene isomerization, was put on stream in September 2000.This unit uses the straight-run and hydrocracking naphtha feestocks to produce PX, which serves as the feed for the downstream pure para-phthalic acid (PTA) unit. Among these facilities, the pre-hydrotreating unit adopts the domestic technology, while other units operate by using UOP’s patented technologies.

Afterwards, the Tianjin Petrochemocal Branch Company began to use catalysts developed by RIPP and the Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology which have laid foundation for the progress in SINOPEC’s package technologies. At present the six out of seven units are operating by using the Chinese technology with the exception of the adsorptive separation of PX which is still using technology licensed by UOP.

In 2011 the Sinopec Corp. constructed the first commercial test unit for adsorptive separation of PX rated at 30 kt/a using its independently developed adsorptive technique coupled with its newly developed adsorbent RAX-3000, with the product purity and yield all reaching the internationally advanced level.

After attaining success in the operation of commercial test unit, the Sinopec Corp. based on its self-developed aromatics production technology has constructed a 600 kt/a PX adsorptive separation unit at the Hainan Refining and Chemical Company, which has been operating smoothly with all key technical indicators reaching or exceeding the similar international level. This PX unit has become a new pacemarker for the global aromatics integrated units, featuring low investment cost along with low energy consumption.

Being currently the world’s third aromatics production technology patent licensor, the Sinopec Corp. has totally changed China’s past history of reliance on overseas core technology for aromatics production.