Honeywell (Morris Plains, N.J.; www.honeywell.com) announced today the successful commissioning and operation of the largest operating single-train propane dehydrogenation unit in China.
Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Group Co. Ltd., is using Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex process technology to convert propane into 750,000 metric tons annually (MTA) of propylene, the primary component used for making plastics, packaging and synthetic fibers. With this unit, the global production capacity of Oleflex technology is now approximately 6.8 million MTA.
Historically, 70 percent of the world’s propylene was produced from petroleum as a byproduct of making ethylene, another component of plastics. In recent years, ethylene producers increasingly have made ethylene from ethane in natural gas, which produces a negligible amount of propylene. This shift in ethylene production has caused a propylene supply gap, leading to investments in facilities that produce on-purpose propylene using Honeywell UOP technology. China consumes more than 15 percent of the world’s propylene and its demand is growing more than 4 percent per year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Since 2011, Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex technology has been chosen for 40 of the world’s 47 new propane and isobutane dehydrogenation projects licensed worldwide.
Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to reliably convert propane to propylene and is proven to have the lowest cash cost of production and the highest return on investment compared with competing technologies.
In addition to technology licensing, Honeywell UOP provided the engineering design, equipment, staff training, technical service and catalyst for the project. The Oleflex unit is part of a large complex that also includes Honeywell UOP LPG hydrotreating technology, a Butamer™ C4 isomerization unit, and PSA, or pressure swing adsorption, units to produce high-purity hydrogen.
China’s largest propane dehydrogenation unit commissioned
| By Scott Jenkins