DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont; www.cleantechnologies.dupont.com) signed contracts with Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) to provide STRATCO alkylation and MECS Advanced sulfuric acid regeneration (SAR) technologies for the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC). The 9,100 bbl/d STRATCO alkylation unit and 70 metric tons per day MECS Advanced SAR unit were secured for the Petrochemical Refinery Integration Al-Zour (PRIZe) project in Al-Zour, Kuwait.
PRIZe is the largest greenfield refinery ever built and is currently under construction in southern Kuwait. This 615,000 bbl/d megarefinery is part of Kuwait’s strategy to reduce sulfur emissions from vehicles and power plants. Startup is targeted for the second quarter of 2022. With the PRIZe project, Kuwait aims to become a major player in the ultra-low sulfur fuel market and plans to increase KNPC’s domestic refining capacity from 0.94 million bbl/d to 1.42 million bbl/d.
“With highly innovative technology enhancements, the new STRATCO alkylation and MECS Advanced SAR units will help KIPIC to fulfill its ambitious target for desulfurization,” said Eli Ben-Shoshan, global business director, DuPont Clean Technologies. “This is the first DuPont MECS Advanced SAR license, a technology that delivers low CAPEX, improved OPEX, and best in class emissions to sulfuric acid producers around the world. We are delighted to be supporting KIPIC in making a project that is of such vital importance to Kuwait’s national refining capacity sustainable with our clean air and clean fuel technologies.”
The STRATCO alkylation unit will feature the Contactor XP2 technology in the STRATCO Contactor reactors. This patented reactor enhancement makes extremely effective use of the tube bundle heat transfer area, ensuring the highest quality alkylate product from the MTBE raffinate feedstock.
Licensed and 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 bbl/d of installed capacity.