Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022 - 24

Sustainability
TABLE 7. Consumables
5
Item
Catalyst active reagent, kg/hr
Organic chloride activator, kg/hr
30% NaOH, kg/hr
Total consumables, kg/hr
increase the feed olefin content to maximize
alkylate production.
TABLE 6 lists the licensor-recommended
contaminant limits for the process, and
TABLE 7 compares the commercial and design
consumables for the process. While
processing feed with higher contaminant
levels does not impact the safety or operation
of the unit, the catalyst consumption
rate may increase. Therefore, a feeddependent
pretreatment configuration is
recommended for each installation.
During regular operations, the majority
of spent CIL catalysts are regenerated
onsite in the regeneration unit, and catalyst
activity is maintained through the
addition of an organic chloride activator
compound. A 30% sodium hydroxide
(NaOH) solution is used to remove feed
contaminant sulfur via caustic wash and
to secondarily neutralize small quantities
of spent catalyst byproduct prior to disposal.
A roughly equal quantity of catalyst
active reagent is added to offset spent
catalyst removals.
Despite the methanol content in
the feed being in excess of the licensorrecommended
limits, the commercial
operation required 43% fewer total consumables
than the design basis. A key
reason for the lower-than-anticipated
consumables was the presence of higher
quantities of non-reactive n-butane in
the commercial feed alongside lower
quantities of olefinic
reaction materials.
It is expected that future modifications
to the feed aimed at increasing the
alkylate production rate will bring the
commercial and design estimates closer
to alignment. The future addition of a
pretreatment methanol removal unit may
present an opportunity to further reduce
catalyst consumption.
Takeaway. The CIL-catalyzed alkylation
technologya
is a commercially proven
high-performance alkylation process
that meets the health, safety and environmental
objectives of stakeholders.
As with any newly implemented tech24
JANUARY 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
4
1
Design basis
232
19
300
551
Commercial
150
12
150
312
nology, a retrospective review of initial
process performance indexed against the
design basis provides an excellent opportunity
to identify optimization and
debottlenecking projects, and such a
review should be undertaken within the
first 6 mos of commissioning.
Lessons learned from commercial
experience highlight the importance of
selecting a robust alkylation technology
that has a high tolerance for feed composition
variability, accurately predicting feed
characteristics during the design phase
of the project, while also ensuring stable
feed during commercial operations. Significant
deviations and fluctuations in the
feed may result in variations in the alkylate
yield, energy consumption per quantity
of alkylate produced and consumables
required. Nonetheless, the CIL-catalyzed
alkylation technologya
is demonstrated to
consistently produce high-quality alkylate
in a safe and sustainable manner.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sinopec Jiujiang provided the design and commercial
operating data. The National Natural Science
Foundation of China (grants 21425626, 21036008,
20976194 and 20206018) and Shell Global Solutions
International B.V. provided exploratory and strategic
research grants. The China State Council granted the
National Invention Award for the CIL-catalyzed alkylation
technologya
.
NOTE
a
Ionikylation is a CIL-catalyzed alkylation technology
developed by the China University of
Petroleum-Beijing and licensed worldwide by Well
Resources Inc.
LITERATURE CITED
IEA, " Oil Markets Face Uncertain Future After
Rebound from Historic COVID-19 Shock, " March
21, 2021, online: https://www.iea.org/news/oilmarkets-face-uncertain-future-after-rebound-fromhistoric-covid-19-shock
2
IEA,
" Oil 2021: Analysis and Forecast to 2026, "
March 2021, online: https://www.iea.org/reports/
oil-2021
3
Kearney, L. and J. Renshaw, " Philadelphia Energy
Solutions Files for Bankruptcy After Refinery Fire, "
Reuters, July 22, 2019, online: https://www.reuters.
com/article/us-pes-bankruptcy-idUSKCN1UH0O9
Sanicola, L., " U.S. Refiners, Chemical Makers Pare
Insurance Coverage as Accidents Boost Costs, "
Reuters, January 29, 2020, online: https://www.
XIAOMING ZHANG is a Technical
Manager at Beijing Zhongshi Aojie
Petroleum Technology Co. Ltd.
He has 20 yr of refining experience
and specializes in plant
optimization and process licensing.
Mr. Zhang is responsible for the
commercial production of various additives used in
petroleum applications, including composite ionic
liquid catalysts. He earned a BE degree in chemical
engineering from the China University of Petroleum
in East China.
QIQUAN CHEN is a Deputy
General Manager and a Senior
Staff Engineer at Sinopec Jiujiang.
He has 22 yr of experience in
petroleum refining and
petrochemical production. Mr. Chen
is responsible for implementing
green and safe technologies in the refining and
production of clean fuels. He earned an MS degree
in chemical technology from the Liaoning University
of Petroleum and Chemical Technology in China.
6
reuters.com/article/us-usa-refineries-insuranceidUSKBN1ZT0FB
Liu,
Z., R. Zhang, C. Xu and R. Xia, " Ionic Liquid
Alkylation Process Produces High-Quality Gasoline, "
Oil & Gas Journal, 2006.
Liu, Z., R. Zhang, X. Meng, H. Liu, C. Xu, X. Zhang
and W. Chung, " Composite ionic liquid alkylation
technology gives high product yield and selectivity, "
Hydrocarbon Processing, March 2018.
7
Chung, W., R. Zhang, X. Zhang and D. Song, " Safe
and sustainable alkylation: Performance update
on composite ionic liquid alkylation technology, "
Hydrocarbon Processing, April 2020.
8
Brelsford, R., " Sinopec Starts Up Composite Ionic
Liquid Alkylation Unit, " Oil & Gas Journal, April
2, 2019, online: https://www.ogj.com/refiningprocessing/refining/capacities/article/17279209/
sinopec-
star ts -up-composite-ionic-liquidalkylation-unit
9
Brelsford,
R., " Sinopec Starts Up New Unit at
Wuhan Refinery, " Oil & Gas Journal, April 16, 2020,
online: https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/
refining/operations/article/14174241/sinopecstarts-up-new-unit-at-wuhan-refinery
WARREN
CHUNG is the President of
Well Resources Inc. He specializes
in assessing commercial readiness
of novel technologies, project
development and process licensing.
He developed the best-practice
protocols for the Ionikylation
technology. Mr. Chung earned a BS degree in chemical
and biomedical engineering from the University of
Alberta in Canada. He is a registered professional
engineer in Alberta.
RUI ZHANG is a Technical
Consultant at Beijing Zhongshi
Aojie Petroleum Technology Co.
Ltd., and an Associate Professor of
Chemical Engineering at the China
University of Petroleum in Beijing.
His research interests include
petroleum processing and clean fuels production.
He is a co-inventor of the Ionikylation technology
and is responsible for the experimental test program
and commercial startup. Dr. Zhang earned a PhD
in chemical engineering from the China University
of Petroleum-Beijing.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-refineries-insurance-idUSKBN1ZT0FB https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-refineries-insurance-idUSKBN1ZT0FB https://www.ogj.com/refiningprocessing/refining/capacities/article/17279209/sinopec-starts-up-composite-ionic-liquid-alkylation-unit https://www.ogj.com/refiningprocessing/refining/capacities/article/17279209/sinopec-starts-up-composite-ionic-liquid-alkylation-unit https://www.ogj.com/refiningprocessing/refining/capacities/article/17279209/sinopec-starts-up-composite-ionic-liquid-alkylation-unit https://www.ogj.com/refiningprocessing/refining/capacities/article/17279209/sinopec-starts-up-composite-ionic-liquid-alkylation-unit https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/refining/operations/article/14174241/sinopec-starts-up-new-unit-at-wuhan-refinery https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/refining/operations/article/14174241/sinopec-starts-up-new-unit-at-wuhan-refinery https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/refining/operations/article/14174241/sinopec-starts-up-new-unit-at-wuhan-refinery https://www.iea.org/news/oil-markets-face-uncertain-future-after-rebound-fromhistoric-covid-19-shock https://www.iea.org/news/oil-markets-face-uncertain-future-after-rebound-fromhistoric-covid-19-shock https://www.iea.org/news/oil-markets-face-uncertain-future-after-rebound-fromhistoric-covid-19-shock https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-2021 https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-2021 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pes-bankruptcy-idUSKCN1UH0O9 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pes-bankruptcy-idUSKCN1UH0O9 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-refineries-insuranceidUSKBN1ZT0FB http://www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

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