Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemicals Co Starts Up Honeywell UOP Methanol-To-Olefins Unit

Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemicals Co starts up Honeywell UOP Methanol-to-Olefins unit

23-Feb-17

Honeywell has announced that Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical Company, Ltd. started its UOP Advanced Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) unit during a 10-day test to confirm successful operation. When the full unit goes on line, it will have an annual production capacity of 833,000 metric tpa, making it the largest single-train MTO unit in the world.

Located in Lianyungang City in China's Jiangsu Province, the Sailboat facility will produce propylene for the production of acrylonitrile. The plant also will produce ethylene for the production of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers, as well as C4 olefins for the production of butadiene.
"We expect China to invest more than US$100 billion in coal-to-chemicals technology in the next five years," said Mike Millard, vice president and general manager of UOP's Process Technology and Equipment business. "With China's demand growth for propylene of 7% pa, ethylene demand growing nearly 6%, and butadiene at almost 4%, our Advanced MTO process provides an excellent solution to meet that demand."

Jiangsu Sailboat chose the Advanced MTO process because it produces the highest yields of light olefins at the lowest cost of production, with the lowest catalyst consumption and the lowest operating cost. In addition, the unit is configured for production of C4 olefins, as well as ethylene and propylene. Honeywell UOP's Advanced MTO process combines the UOP/Hydro MTO process and the Total/UOP Olefin Cracking Process to significantly increase yields and feedstock efficiency. The process converts methanol from coal and natural gas into ethylene and propylene. At the heart of the technology are UOP's proprietary catalysts, which make it possible to efficiently adjust the ratio of propylene and ethylene produced so operators can most effectively meet demand for those products.