Zhenhai Refinery's 300,000 Tons/Year Propylene Oxide Unit Successfully Starts Up!

Recently, the 300,000 tons/year industrial plant utilizing Sinopec's CHP-based propylene oxide (S-APO) technology, developed under the leadership of Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology, successfully started up at Zhenhai Refinery. The propylene oxide product produced achieved a purity exceeding 99.995%, with stable operation and excellent product quality. After load ramp-up, the unit has reached full-capacity stable operation. This marks the third industrial unit successfully commissioned following continuous iteration and upgrading since the technology's first successful industrial application at Tianjin Petrochemical in 2023, representing a significant breakthrough in the industrial application of Sinopec's S-APO technology and ushering in a new phase of development.

Zhenhai Refinery's 300,000 tons/year CHP-based propylene oxide unit employs highly efficient propylene epoxidation and dimethylbenzyl alcohol hydrogenolysis catalysts. The system integrates three major reaction processes: cumene oxidation, propylene epoxidation, and dimethylbenzyl alcohol hydrogenolysis. It is efficiently integrated with downstream units within the Zhenhai base, including phenol/acetone and acrylonitrile units, offering significant advantages such as low material and energy consumption and excellent product quality. With the recent positive market trend for propylene oxide, the unit maintains stable full-capacity operation, demonstrating significant profit-generating capability and becoming a priority production unit for the propylene industrial chain within the base. The commissioning of this project will effectively strengthen Sinopec's industrial chain in East China and further enhance Sinopec's core competitiveness in high-end synthetic new materials.

To ensure a safe, stable, and efficient startup, the Shanghai Research Institute established a "four-in-one" technical support team covering process, catalysts, analysis, and on-site services, providing full-process technical support for unit inspection, catalyst loading, startup preparation, trial operation, and operational optimization. The technical team collaborated closely with startup experts and Zhenhai Refinery technicians, focusing on key aspects such as startup preparation, feed switching, parameter ramp-up, system linkage, and load adjustment. They conducted advance process reviews, risk identification, and operational simulations, continuously optimizing startup routes and control strategies, accurately predicting and responding to complex operational changes during startup, and effectively ensuring the safe, stable, efficient, and orderly commissioning of the unit.