Axens Wins China Crude-to-PX Contracts

French technology provider Axens has won several contracts from Hengli Petrochemical for a crude-to-paraxylene (PX) complex at Changxing Island in China’s Liaoning province. The value of the contracts was not disclosed.

Axens said the site will be the largest in the world for producing high-purity PX along with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline and diesel fuels meeting China 5 specifications, jet fuel and base lube oils.

The complex will process 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil and will supply high-purity PX to Hengli’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants to feed PET production. The facility includes a final-conversion refinery oriented towards producing naphtha and an aromatics complex which will maximize the output of high-purity PX.

As well as providing various process units and trains for residual cracking and hydrocracking, Axens will also provide technologies for a naphtha hydrotreating unit, three parallel Aromizing units, two parallel aromatics chains and one methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE) plant.

The Aromizing units will use a continuous catalytic regenerative reforming process to maximize aromatics production from naphtha. The two aromatics chains will be based on Eluxyl 1.15 technology for PX purification combined with Oparis technology for the full isomerization of other C8 aromatics into PX.

Axens said its large technology portfolio and ability to maximize naphtha and PX production were key factors in winning the contracts. It said it has been awarded contracts for a cumulative PX capacity of around 7 million t/y over the last 12 months.