SINOPEC to build two MTO projects in Henan
In Feb. 3, 2010, SINOPEC and Henan Provincial Government signed a memorandum of outstanding, deciding to set up a 1.8Mt/a methanol to 600kt/a olefins project in Baoshan Cyclic Economy Industrial Cluster, Hebi City, Henan Province.河南省鶴壁市
The project will be jointly executed by SINOPEC and Henan Coal & Chemical Industry Group (HNCC河南煤業化工集団）. The project shall combine coal mining, methanol synthesis, MTO (methanol-to-olefins) and downstream processing into an integrated operation. Work of the project preliminary stage is divided between HNCC, in charge of the coal mining design, and SINOPEC, in charge of that of methanol, MTO and the derivative plants, while relevant governmental departments of Henan province shall provide the supporting documents necessary for the project proposal. The project application report shall be accomplished and submitted to state authorities before June 2010.
According to the earlier released information, at the end of 2009, SINOPEC approved the ethylene feedstock diversifying project proposed by Zhongyuan Petrochemical 中原石油化学in Puyang濮陽市, Henan Province. This project was reported to cost around CNY1.5bn and use a SINOPEC self-developed SMTO process. Construction scope shall cover a 600kt/a methanol to 200kt/a olefin unit. Also, it includes the expansion of existing PE unit to 260kt/a and a new PP plant of 100kt/a capacity. Zhongyuan Petrochemical is a subsidiary of SINOPEC. It is currently operating a 180kt/a ethylene cracker, a 200kt/a PE unit, a 60kt/a PP unit, a 50kt/a C4 extraction and a 100kt/a aromatic extraction plant.
Combining the news, SINOPEC is supposed to execute two MTO project in northern part of Henan Province. Firstly, the company will build a demonstration MTO unit of 200kt/a olefins in Puyang . Then a larger size MTO complex (600kt/a olefins) shall follow and to be built in Hebi.
According to the analysis of ASIACHEM, the existing naphtha crackers of under 300kt/a capacity in China will gradually lose their competitiveness with those coal-based olefin plants developed in China or ethane-based crackers boomed in Middle East. Therefore, the feedstock change project of Zhongyuan Petrochemical, once comes true, will be a good choice for SINOPEC, by the project not only the company can obtain commercial experience from the 200kt/a MTO operation and avoid the risk of one-step scale up to 600kt/a capacity, but also the existing downstream plants and distribution channels can be made full use to reduce investment cost.
SINOPEC has developed SMTO (initiated with S for SINOPEC) process as a technology reserve. In 2007, SINOPEC built a 100t/d SMTO commercial pilot unit in Yanshan Petrochemical. Then in 2008 the company developed 1.8Mt/a SMTO process package and acquired all capabilities necessary for the engineering & construction of full size MTO complex.
Sinopec announced that it has all the capabilities to scale up the SMTO project to 1.8 Mt/a (methanol feedstock).
Both Puyang and Hebi are located in northern part of Henan Province, belonging in one of the state planned 7 coal chemical industry bases, i.e. the borderland between Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui Provinces. The abundance of local coal and water resources will provide a better foundation for SINOPEC to develop coal chemical projects.
Quoted from: New Kaznak
