DuPont Clean Technologies has won a contract to supply Chinese state-owned chemical group Sinopec with a second Stratco alkylation unit as the country implements tighter vehicle emission standards to clean up air pollution in its cities.

In order to comply with the China V standard of 10 ppm sulfur content for fuel, Sinopec Qilu has commissioned DuPont to provide a license, engineering and equipment for a unit with a capacity of 400,000 t/y alkylate at its site in Zibo, Shandong province. Start-up is planned for mid-2018.

DuPont said this unit will be the first use of its Model 74 Contactor reactor. This model has fewer reactors than a standard Contactor reactor, meaning less space is required and the overall capital cost is cheaper. The Model 74 reactor also has a volume of 18,000 gallons compared to 11,500 gallons in the standard Model 63 Contactor reactor.

The first Stratco alkylation unit was supplied to Sinopec Tianjin for its oil refinery in the Tianjin Binhai New Area district in northern China. This unit is due to go online in mid-2018.

To date, DuPont has licensed 90 Stratco units worldwide with a total capacity of 33 million t/y.