The PDP for 600 kt/a PDH Unit Developed by LEC and RIPP Passed SINOPEC’s Review

Recently, the process design package (PDP) for a 600 kt/a moving‐bed propane dehydrogenation to propylene(PDH) unit, which was jointly developed by the SINOPEC Luoyang Engineering Company (LEC) and the Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP),has passed the review and assessment by the Sinopec Corp.The expert team has suggested to accelerate the commercial application of this process, after admitting that the comprehensive performance of the catalyst PST‐100 developed by RIPP has assumed an international leading position, while the PDP with independent intellectual property rights has featured a progressive flow scheme coupled with the reasonable design concepts.

PDH is an important process for manufacture of propylene, and its share in total propylene production increases with every year, which has reached over 20%currently.With the petroleum refining industry facing a transition towards chemicals production, the PDH process has become one of the main technological outlets of the chemical‐type oil refineries.

In 2018, the PST‐100 type catalyst for moving‐bed dehydrogenation of propane developed by RIPP had been for the first time applied in commercial scale to demonstrate its excellent comprehensive performance.Soon afterwards, RIPP and LPC began to engage in developing and preparing the PDP for the PDH process.

By the end of 2020, the first version of PDP had passed the preliminary review by the Sinopec Corp.In the first half of 2021, the research team had optimized the process design package to further reduce the material and energy consumption.

The successful development of PDP for the 600 kt/a PDH unit has symbolized the independence and initiative spirit in the area of PDH technology.