Plant Engineering Lummus Successfully Starts-Up First C5 Cdalky Alkylation Unit in the World

Lummus Technology has announced the successful start-up of its Cdalky C5 alkylation unit at Valero’s St. Charles Refinery in Norco, Louisiana, USA. The company’s ethylbenzene technology will also be used at a facility in China to produce 508 KTA of ethylbenzene.

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Lummus Technology

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Houston/USA – Lummus Technology has announced the start-up of its Cdalky C5 alkylation unit at Valero’s St. Charles Refinery in Norco, Louisiana, USA. The capacity of the alkylation complex is 17,000 BPSD of Alkylate product.

“The safe and successful start-up demonstrates how Lummus provides major operators with solutions that optimize plant performance and operations,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology.

In 2016, Lummus received the award for license and basic engineering design for a new alkylation process complex at the St. Charles Refinery. The project scope included the design of a Cdhydro depentanizer, a C5 Cdalky unit, and technical services support for commissioning, start up and unit performance testing.

This is the first C5 Cdalky alkylation unit in the world, and Lummus’ first Cdalky unit in the U.S. Lummus developed the alkylation platform to process low value C5 feedstock at its pilot plant facility located at its research and development center in Pasadena, Texas. The depentanizer column is used to recover C5 olefins from light cat naphtha and to remove impurities from feedstocks. The Cdalky unit will convert C5 olefins into a superior alkylate product with minimum acid consumption.

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Lummus’ Cdalky technology is an advanced low-temperature sulfuric acid alkylation process for the production of premium motor fuel alkylate. It reacts light olefin streams from refinery sources such as fluid catalytic cracking units or from steam cracking units with iso-paraffins to produce motor fuel alkylate. Central to the Cdalky process is a novel reaction system design that significantly improves mass transfer compared to conventional contactors.

Lummus Technology has also announced an award for its ethylbenzene technology from a customer in Jiangsu Province, China. Once complete, the unit will produce 508 KTA of ethylbenzene via the Ebone technology.

“We look forward to continuing to provide our world-class technology to customers in China, a critical market for us now and in the future,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. “This award is a testament to the superior performance of our ethylbenzene technology, which is proven to maximize plant uptime, provide high-quality products, optimize production costs and reduce investment costs.”

The scope for this project includes the technology license, basic engineering, training and related site services.

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