Paraxylene Production via

BP Crystallization Technology

ERTC Conference 2017

By: Nicholas Kinnis

A World of Solutions
 Paraxylene Introduction

• Isomer in the mixed C₈

aromatics family • 50 M Ton Annual Market
• Para, Ortho, Meta & • 5%-7% Growth
Ethylbenzene 2 x Global GDP Growth

• Primary feedstock for PTA

(Purified Terephthalic Acid)
• PTA feeds the polyester fiber market
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 Polyester Demand is Growing

Polyester Balance
120,000 86%

Polyester Demand, '000 Tonnes 84%

100,000
82%

80,000 80%

Utilization, %
78%
60,000
76%

40,000 74%

72%
20,000
70%

0 68%
Source: PCI
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Xylenes &
Filament Staple PET Film World Production Utilization Rate Polyesters
A World of Solutions 3
 BP PX Technology is the Technology of Choice

BP pX
Technology
100+ Years of experience licensed by CB&I
Years of continued
>99+% Reliability
50
improvements >$4M Annual Savings
*2 Million MT Plant

Rapid Debottlenecking
2 Million MT PX Plant Shortest Turnaround times
>$30M Annual OPEX 27% Lower GHG emissions
Savings
66% Lower Flaring
>$75M CAPEX Savings Vs. Competing Processes
(USGC basis)
A World of Solutions 4
 A Closer Look at the BP PX Process

Light Reformate Crystallization

State-of-the-art crystallizer and
Light Aromatics centrifuge technology
Reformate Reformate Offgas Separate via large differences in
Splitter *includes Ethane
& Benzene
freezing point of xylene isomers
Xylene Paraxylene
Refinery or Imported Xylenes* Recovery Crystallization

*BP PX: no requirement for O2

Stripper or Clay Towers
Isomerization
Isomerization Isomerize o- & m- xylenes to
maximize p-xylene production
Heavy De-ethylate EB, isomer that
Aromatics Hydrogen competes with px
A World of Solutions 5
 Separation by Crystallization, Lower Energy

2 Primary Commercial Routes

Crystallization Selective Adsorption Chemical Properties, °C
Melting Boiling
Para-xylene +13 138.4
Ortho-xylene -25 144.4
Freezing Vaporization Meta-Xylene -48 139.1
pX Phase Change Data EthylBenzene -95 136.2
Heat (kCal / kg)

100
75
50 82.2 ∆ 38°C ∆ 0.7°C
25 38.5
0 Large differences in melting points
Heat of Fusion pX Heat of Vaporization pX
result in lower energy to recover pX
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology

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 Lower Fuel Consumption, Lower Emissions

Relative Overall Energy Cost (EU Basis), $ / MT

BP PX consumes less energy than
Competing Technologies
competing technologies $60
ME Europe SEA
$50
Lower fuel consumption $40
by BP PX
$30

Lower environmental $20

footprint
$10
(Base)
$0 BP PX
Basis ME EU SEA
Fuel, $/MMkCal $30 $45 $60 -$10

Electricity, $/kWh $0.09 $0.09 $0.09 -$20

Fuel Power Total

A World of Solutions 7
 Showcase: Geel, Belgium Plant 705,000 MTA

• Average PX purity >

99.8%; higher product
purity easily achievable
• Average reliability over
last 10 years = 99%+
• Exceeds strict European
100m
emissions criteria
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 BP PX’s Industry Leading Position

3rd party benchmarking Performance Environmental Impact

study vs competing Quartiles BP PX vs Industry Average
technologies
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
-10%
Power -27%

Steam

Fuel Industry Eutrophication Global Warming

Average Potential Potential
Total
Energy
In 2016, output has been validated by
Raw
independent third party:
Mat’s Environmental Resources Management (ERM)

A World of Solutions 9
 Conclusion

Lower fuel consumption:

Industry-leading
environmental footprint, Customer
validated by 3rd parties:

Low Pressure operation BP Paraxylene (pX) Technology

leads to CAPEX and 2017 Best Petrochemical Technology
OPEX Savings by Hydrocarbon Processing

Thermodynamic
advantage: crystallization
vs. vaporization

Non-noble Metal Catalyst High Reliability & Continuous

10 year life, in-situ regeneration improvement
No adsorbent/desorbent
A World of Solutions 10
 Contact

Nicholas Kinnis
Nicholas.Kinnis@cbi.com
+1-973-893-2877
CB&I
1515 Broad Street
Bloomfield, NJ, 07003 USA

Copyright 2017, CB&I Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A World of Solutions 11