Successful Startup of MTP Unit Using Domestic Catalyst at Datang Duolun Coal Chemical Company

Till July 10, 2014 the methanol-to-propylene (MTP) reactor C, which operated on domestic catalyst, has been running for 72 hours at the Datang Duolun Coal Chemical Company (DDCCC), symbolizing the successful commissioning of the commercial MTP unit applying the domestic catalyst.

The MTP unit is the core of the chemical plant owned by DDCCC, and is the largest propylene production unit in China serving as the world’s typical representative of coal-based olefins production technology. Until recently three reactors of DDCCC’s MTP unit were using catalyst provided by overseas manufacturers, which had costed an enormous procurement expenses and also seriously constrained the independent and sustainable development of the MTP project. Starting from 2008, DDCCC together with the Datang International Chemical Technology Research Institute began to independently study and develop the catalyst needed by the MTP unit. From January till August 2013 the catalyst was tested in the sideline of MTP unit and was used in admixture with the imported catalyst in the main reactor, which had shown that the performance of domestic catalyst was on a par with the imported catalyst. By the end of June, 2014 the domestic catalyst had been loaded into the reactor C of the MTP unit to fully replace 150 metric tons of imported catalyst. Currently this reactor has been operating smoothly while successfully cranking out qualified propylene product. The temperature in the catalyst bed of the reactor is distributed homogeneously with all process indicators being under control.

If the domestically developed catalyst adopted by DDCCC can meet the design goal in terms of the product yield, DDCCC could save annually more than 50 million RMB for procurement of imported MTP catalyst.