Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) has announced that its Heat Generating Material (HGM) for the Catofin process technology for producing propylene from propane demonstrated excellent performance at the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant of Ningbo Haiyue New Material Co. Limited in Ningbo City, China. The plant produces 600,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of propylene using the CB&I Catofin catalytic dehydrogenation process, based on Clariant’s Catofin catalyst.
The Catofin process operates at optimum reactor pressure and temperature to maximize conversion of propane for a high yield of propylene and correspondingly low investment and operating costs. These performance advantages are now further enhanced through the inclusion of HGM in the Catofin process.
HGM is an innovative metal-oxide material that is designed to significantly increase selectivity and yield of Catofin units. The material is loaded into the catalyst bed with the catalyst where it undergoes oxidation and reduction during the operating cycle, producing heat and driving the dehydrogenation reaction. This not only boosts yields and saves energy, but also reduces emissions.
Several Catofin units using HGM for isobutylene production have gone on-stream since 2011, all confirming the advantages of HGM technology at full commercial scale. The confirmed performance benefit of HGM at Ningbo Haiyue is of particular significance as it is the first PDH plant to operate using HGM. Only 36 months after the project was awarded, the unit was onstream with feed. Furthermore, on spec propylene was produced within 3 days of introduction of propane feed, and 100% design capacity was available in less than 30 days. The plant has fully met its performance guarantees, and is currently operating at over 105% capacity.