Chinese operator lets contract for PDH plant

Feb. 16, 2017
Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. (DGRST) has let a joint contract to CB&I, Houston, and Clariant International Ltd., Muttenz, Switzerland, to provide licensing and engineering design for a grassroots propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit to be built in Dongguan City, Guandong Province, China.

Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. (DGRST) has let a joint contract to CB&I, Houston, and Clariant International Ltd., Muttenz, Switzerland, to provide licensing and engineering design for a grassroots propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit to be built in Dongguan City, Guandong Province, China.

To be configured for reduced equipment-piece count and lower propane consumption, the PDH plant will use CB&I’s proprietary Catofin catalytic dehydrogenation process technology and Clariant’s tailor-made Catofin catalyst and heat-generating material (HGM) to produce 600,000 tonnes/year of propylene, the service companies said.

A metal-oxide material designed specifically to increase selectivity and yields of Catofin units, HGM will be co-loaded with catalyst into the catalyst bed, where it will undergo oxidation and reduction, produce heat, and drive the dehydrogenation reaction to help boost output, save energy, and reduce emissions at the unit, Clariant said.

The companies did not disclose a value of the contract.

Project overview?

This latest contract for technology licensing and design comes as part of DGRST’s planned PDH and high-performance polypropylene (PDH-HPPP) project, a portion of which broke ground on Aug. 10, 2016, said a series of releases from the government of Dongguan.

DGRST appears to be developing two legs of the PDH-HPPP project, both at Dongguan.

One leg will have a total capacity of 900,000 tpy, with the other leg will have a 1.2-million tpy capacity, according to project environmental impact assessment notices dating back to November 2015.

DGRST previously let contracts with a combined value of 200 million yuan to Chevron Lummus Global—a CB&I-Chevron Corp. joint venture—and Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Co. for engineering and construction on one leg of PDH-HPPP, DGRST said in an Oct. 12, 2016, release on its web site, which—in its entirety—only makes reference to the 900,000-tpy portion of the project.

The operator also let a contract to W.R. Grace & Co., Columbia, Md., in late 2016 to provide licensing for its proprietary Unipol polypropylene technology for a 600,000-tpy dual-reactor plant at Dongguan that is scheduled for startup in 2019, Grace said in a Feb. 13 release.

A separate report from the government of Dongguan on projects currently under construction in the city, however, only lists a first 600,000-tpy phase of PDH-HPPP scheduled for completion in December 2018 that will use Honeywell UOP LLC’s Oleflex process.

DGRST was unavailable for clarification on the revised scope of PDH-HPPP or the official roster of providers awarded contracts for the project.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].