StyroMax® UL3 Catalyst Delivers Exceptional Productivity
Clariant's StyroMax® UL3 catalyst demonstrates exceptional productivity at Risun's new styrene monomer plant in China.
Clariant announced that its StyroMax UL3 catalyst has achieved successful results at Risun's new styrene monomer facility in Tangshan, China. Following a smooth and stable catalyst start-up in October 2020, the plant reports excellent production output with highly profitable operations.
The project is a collaboration between Clariant Catalysts and engineering company Changzhou Ruihua Chemical Engineering Technology Co. Ltd (Ruihua Technology). Through Ruihua's technology and Clariant's catalyst, the Risun facility has achieved efficiency rates exceeding 120% of the new plant's nominal design capacity, making it the highest among all Ruihua process plants in China.
Stefan Heuser, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Clariant Catalysts, said: "We are very pleased with the results of our collaboration with Ruihua on this project. As one of China's leading specialty chemical groups, Tangshan Risun is a highly valuable reference for our StyroMax UL3 styrene catalyst, which has amply proven its excellence for profitable styrene monomer production."
Based on current catalyst performance, the facility is expected to sustain increased yields at 120% or higher productivity. Additionally, among all operating Ruihua process plants, it can operate at an extremely low vapor-to-oil ratio of 1.1 w/w, which is the lowest. As a result, the Risun facility reports exceptional energy efficiency. Such benefits are possible for facilities operating adiabatic units with low vapor-to-oil ratios, as the catalyst was specifically designed for these conditions.
StyroMax UL3 Catalyst
The StyroMax UL3 catalyst, the newest generation in its series, is designed to support dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene at ultra-low vapor-to-oil ratios. While previous catalysts could provide either high activity or high selectivity under these conditions, StyroMax UL3 is the first catalyst to support both, thereby increasing yields for styrene producers and significantly reducing process costs.
Zhi Gang Xu, President of Ruihua Technology, said: "Clariant's advanced StyroMax UL3 catalysts and our ethylbenzene-styrene process have proven to be an excellent combination, providing significant economic and process benefits for Tangshan Risun's new facility. We look forward to continued excellent results at the Risun plant and further collaboration with Clariant."
Ruihua Technology is China's largest process technology licensor for styrene monomer from ethylbenzene, focusing on processes with low energy and material consumption using various ethylene feed stocks, such as polymer-grade ethylene or high ethylene gas content. Over the past decade, the company has been assigned 22 references in China.
StyroMax® is a registered trademark of Clariant in many countries.
