UOP's MTO process helps meet China's petrochemicals demand

30 Jun '14

4 min read

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that its licensee, China’s Wison (Nanjing) Clean Energy Co. Ltd., has produced more than 360 million pounds of light olefins at a plant in Nanjing, China, using UOP’s breakthrough methanol-to-olefin (MTO) process technology.

The plant, the first commercial-scale facility to use the UOP/Hydro MTO process technology, has been operating since September 2013 and is successfully meeting expectations for the quality and quantity of light olefins, as well as other performance criteria.

“MTO technology allows countries and regions that are rich in coal or natural gas to cost-effectively and efficiently convert those resources into high yields of valuable petrochemicals to meet growing world demand,” said Pete Piotrowski, senior vice president and general manager of Honeywell’s UOP Process Technology and Equipment business unit. “Our technology offers the lowest operating cost, quick and efficient start-up, and operational reliability. Wison is the first of four manufacturers that have licensed UOP MTO technology, and we continue to see great interest in this technology in China and elsewhere.”

The Wison facility is using UOP’s Advanced MTO process that combines the UOP/Hydro MTO process and the Total/UOP Olefin Cracking process. The combination significantly increases yields and feedstock efficiency. The process converts methanol, which can be derived from low-cost raw materials such as coal or natural gas, into ethylene and propylene. Based on proprietary UOP catalysts, the Advanced MTO process provides high yields with low operating costs. MTO also offers flexibility in the ratio of propylene to ethylene produced, so operators can adjust plant operations to most effectively address market demands.

The Wison plant, designed by Wison Engineering, the largest private sector chemical engineering, procurement and construction management (EPC) service provider in China, has an annual production capacity of 300,000 metric tons per year of ethylene and propylene. UOP provided technology licenses, basic engineering, catalysts, adsorbents, specialty equipment, and technical services for the plant.

“This new production facility is an important milestone for the technology, Wison and China, facilitating the coal-to-chemical industry development roadmap in China,” said Liu Haijun, senior vice president and executive director of Wison Engineering. “The close cooperation between Wison Engineering and UOP on the technological front has pushed forward the development of MTO technology and the upgrading of the modern coal-to-chemicals industry.”

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