Grassroot ISOMALK-2 unit start-up in China

In November 2020, 446.6 KTA Isomalk-2 isomerization unit was started at Dongying United Petroleum Chemical Co., Ltd, (Dongying, China) production site with hexanes recycle configuration.
The unit start-up made it possible for the company to produce the high-octane non-aromatic component and to ensure the required quality of motor gasoline according to the national Chinese standard Guo V, an equivalent of Euro-5.
The unit Basic Engineering was started in 2017. As early as in 2020, the unit was built and commissioned. The unit is notable for the high olefin content in feed reaching up to 4-5 wt. %. Customized process solutions were applied to provide most favorable thermodynamic conditions of the isomerization process.
SI-2 catalyst loading, start-up operations, and unit commissioning to normal operating performances were remotely supported by consultations from SIE Neftehim experts and supervised by the representative of SIE Neftehim’s standing partner Sulzer GTC (Beijing) Technology Inc., which licenses Isomalk-2 technology in China.
Start-up operations were successfully completed in November 2020. High yield of the target product (over 98.5 wt.%) was achieved in the unit, while the isomerate RON was over 88 numbers.