Honeywell’s UOP announced that Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd. has successfully started up a new para-xylene complex using UOP process technology at the Sinopec facility in Shanghai.
The aromatics project was completed in just 30 months from initial kick-off through commissioning, with UOP providing the technology license, basic engineering, equipment packages, and key products.
The new aromatics complex produces 600,000 metric tons per annum of para-xylene using the UOP Parex™ process. Para-xylene is a key ingredient in the production of PTA (purified terephthalic acid), which is used to make polyester for fabric and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) chips for carbonated soft drink and water bottles. The new plant will also produce 280,000 metric tons per annum of benzene, another important building block in plastics production.
With more than 140 million tons of refining capacity, Sinopec is the largest producer and marketer of refined oil products in China and in Asia. It is also the largest distributor of petrochemicals in China and is the country’s second largest producer of oil and gas.
For more information, read the press release.
