Chinese refiner lets contract for alkylation unit

Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum (Group) Co. Ltd. (SYPC) has let a contract to CB&I, Houston, to provide technology licensing and related services for an alkylation unit at its 161,000-b/d refinery at Yanan City in China’s Shaanxi Province.

As part of the contract, CB&I will deliver engineering design for the grassroots unit, which will be equipped with the service provider’s proprietary CDAlky advanced sulfuric acid alkylation technology, CB&I said.

The unit comes in support of SYPC’s goal to boost its market competitiveness and reduce environmental impacts of refinery operations by upgrading the quality of gasoline production using high-octane alkylate, CB&I said.

A value of the contract was not disclosed, and the service provider revealed no details regarding either a proposed capacity of the alkylation unit or a timeframe for its commissioning.

In late 2016, SYPC said ongoing improvement projects at the Yanan plant have boosted the refinery’s yield of gasoline to 99.49%, which will continue to improve amid a series of unidentified optimization, debottlenecking, and efficiency projects already planned for the coming year, according a company release dated Dec. 22, 2016.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].