CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has announced that the world’s first commercial-scale, solid acid catalyst alkylation unit was started up in August at Zibo Haiyi Fine Chemical Co., a subsidiary of Shandong Wonfull Petrochemical Group Co. Ltd. (Wonfull). The unit employs CB&I’s AlkyCleantechnology, jointly developed by CB&I, Albemarle Corp. and Neste Corp. The unit has a capacity of 2,700 barrels per day of alkylate production (100,000 metric tons per year).
The unit, which is located in Zibo, Shandong Province, China, has achieved all performance expectations thus far. Since the startup, the alkylate product has demonstrated excellent quality, including an octane value (RON) between 96 and 98 — a considerably higher RON than typical alkylate products, according to CB&I. RON is considered an indicator of the alkylate’s value as a gasoline blending component.
AlkyClean technology uses Albemarle’s AlkyStar catalyst, a robust fixed-bed zeolite catalyst. By pairing this catalyst with CB&I’s novel reactor scheme, the AlkyClean process is able to produce a high-quality alkylate product without the use of liquid-acid catalysts typical of other alkylation technologies, which makes the process inherently safer. Without the need for post treatment, and the elimination of waste streams such as acid soluble oils, the AlkyClean process offers a more efficient technology for the production of alkylate.