Lummus wins China EB Contract
Lummus Technology has won a contract for its proprietary EBOne ethylbenzene process from a firm in China’s Jiangsu province that will build a unit for 508,000 t/y of EB. A start-up date was not revealed. Lummus said the Chinese company has previously licensed its technologies, including the BP paraxylene process and Chevron Lummus Global’s Isocracking technology.
“We look forward to continuing to provide our world-class technology to customers in China, a critical market for us now and in the future,” said Lummus Technology’s president and CEO Leon de Bruyn. Under the terms of the contract, Lummus will provide a technology license, basic engineering, training and related site services.
The liquid-phase EBOne process uses a fixed-bed UOP zeolite catalyst system. Lummus said the process has low investment requirements, provides high yields and is energy-efficient. It also virtually eliminates the formation of xylene impurities, resulting in an EB product of high quality. More than 30 commercial EBOne plants are currently in operation worldwide.
In separate news, Lummus Technology has announced the start-up of a CDAlky C5 alkylation unit at Valero’s St. Charles refinery in Norco, Louisiana, USA.
The facility is the world’s first C5 CDAlky unit and Lummus’ first CDAlky unit in the US. The Texas-based engineering group developed the alkylation technology to process low value C5 feedstock at its pilot-scale facility in Pasadena. The technology reacts light olefins streams from refinery sources such as fluid catalytic cracking units, or from steam cracking units, with iso-paraffins to produce motor fuel alkylate.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
