PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), has selected Honeywell UOP’s advanced heavy oil processing technology for its integrated Chinese petrochemical complex in Guangdong province.

Honeywell UOP will provide process technology, engineering design, key equipment, catalysts and adsorbents, operator training, technical services for startup and continuing operation.

Bryan Glover – vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP Petrochemicals and Refining Technologies business, commenting on the petrochemical complex in Guangdong, said: “This is the most economically sound solution for the scale and complexity of PetroChina’s operations.

“Our technologies will enable PetroChina Guangdong to produce aromatics on a large scale because of its ability to integrate refining operations with a full aromatics complex.

“We are working to make it one of the most efficient plants in the world.”

PetroChina petrochemical complex in Guangdong

With an annual crude processing capacity of 20 million tons, the new petrochemical complex in Guangdong is expected to transform PetroChina Guangdong into a fully integrated petrochemicals supplier and help meet a national energy security strategy.

The Chinese petrochemical complex, which is being built in Jieyang, will have a 3.7 million tons per annum (mtpa) Unicracking hydrocracking unit which will convert heavy vacuum gas oil into the raw materials for motor fuels and petrochemicals.

Additionally, two Honeywell UOP CCR Platforming units, each with a capacity of 3.0 mtpa, will produce fuels and aromatics, and hydrogen essential for other processes at the petrochemical complex in Guangdong.

The Chinese petrochemical project will feature a 2.6 mpta Light Desorbent Parex aromatics complex that will manufacture high-purity paraxylene, the primary component of many plastic resins, films and fibers.

To ensure maximum performance of the Parex process, the aromatics block will contain a UOP Olefin Removal Process unit and the UOP Sulfolane, Isomar and Tatoray processes.

Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions.

Earlier this month, PetroChina Guangdong selected W. R. Grace & Co.’s UNIPOL PP Process Technology for the Chinese petrochemical project in Guangdong. W. R. Grace & Co. is a supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) process technology.

The new polypropylene facility at the Chinese petrochemical complex is scheduled to be completed in 2023 and will have a production capacity of 500 KTA. It is expected to become the largest single-line UNIPOL PP unit in China and will be used for producing homopolymer, impact copolymer resins, and random copolymer.

PetroChina Guangdong is engaged in the production and distribution of petroleum and natural gas in China.