Chemical Engineering May 2016 - 19

ance to feed contaminants, such as
moisture, sulfur, dienes, oxygenates
and nitriles. For more information on
ExSact, see Chem. Eng. May 2011,
pp. 17-22; and Chem. Eng. January
2007, p. 11.
Unique alkylation feeds
The emergence of commercial-scale
solid-acid catalyst processes for alkylation
has not eliminated innovative
applications for liquid-acid catalyst
units, however. DuPont (Wilmington,
Del.; www.dupont.com) is applying
its sulfuric-acid alkylation technology
to unique alkylation feedstocks, and
in March announced a contract to
supply an alkylation unit to a Chinese
refinery that is using a 100% butylene
stream for its feedstock.
Jeannie Branzaru, global marketing
manager for DuPont Clean Technologies
says, " It's a new era of alkylation
- the chemistry has been around
for a long time, but the economic
conditions are now favorable for butane-to-alkylate
processing, or 'onpurpose
alkylation.' The economics
for this unique processing configuration
have not been there before. "
Branzaru says companies are able
to purchase low-value butane inexpensively
on the open market, then
process it in a dehydrogenation unit
to make isobutylene, which is then
sent to an alkylation unit to make
high-value alkylate. " Our technology
is not limited to butanes only, however.
We are currently working on
alkylation unit designs that process
very high concentrations of propylene
and 100% amylene (C5 olefin)
feeds as well. "
Hengli Petrochemical Co., based
in Dalian, China, awarded DuPont a
contract to supply the alkylation and
spent acid regeneration (SAR) technologies
for its new grassroots refinery
in the Changxing Island Harbor Industrial
Zone. Installation of the new units
at Hengli is currently planned for 2018
with start-up anticipated in 2019. DuPont
will employ its Stratco alkylation
and MECS SAR technologies.
The inclusion of the DuPont technology
to the refinery complex will
allow Hengli to produce a high-quality
alkylate product from a 100% isobutylene
feed stream. " The unique feed
stream available from the Hengli facility
marks the beginning of a new era
for alkylation in the gasoline market
as the butane-to-alkylate movement
grows around the world, " says kevin
Bockwinkel, global business manager
for the Stratco technology.
The alkylation unit at Hengli will
utilize DuPont's patented XP2 technology
in the Stratco Contactor
reactor. The XP2 technology is designed
to ensure the most effective
and efficient use of the tube bundle
heat-transfer area, providing significant
process benefits resulting
in improved alkylate product quality,
Bockwinkel explains.
Petroleum refinery water issues
The AFPM meeting's second day
featured a session on water issues,
which have emerged as a major challenge
for all industrial sectors. In petroleum
refining, significant water use
traditionally occurs with cooling towers,
boilers and desalters. Although
water use has decreased in the past
few decades because of technology
development, the need for water in
petroleum refining remains.
" Water access issues, scarcity and
competition occur at local, state, regional
and national levels, " said larry
Close, a process engineer at Burns
& McDonnel, " And this has the potential
to significantly affect the refining
market. "
Most people have heard of recent
droughts in Texas and California,
which contain the highest number of
petroleum refineries by state. However,
many organizations outside of
those states are becoming equally
concerned with looming water issues
in the near future, said Close.
Close discussed opportunities for
water reuse at petroleum refineries,
including the treatment requirements
for each use. The primary sources of
reuse water are non-contaminated
stormwater, stripped sour water,
vacuum and crude-tower overhead
water and wastewater (refinery and
municipal sources), Close explained,
while the primary reuse opportunities
are the desalter, boiler feed water
(BFW) and cooling tower makeup
water (CTW).
" Identification of appropriate source
water and reuse opportunity is based
on many factors, including required
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