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Olefin Removal Route Replaces Conventional Clay Systems
Commercialized in October of last year, ExxonMobil Chemical Technology Licensing LLC's (ww'w.exxonmobilchemical) Olgone technology has been successfully used in its first licensed application by Nippon Petroleum Refining Co., Ltd. (NPRC; www.eneos.co.jp/english) at the latter's Muroran refinery. Replacing traditional clay treatment processes, the Olgone technology removes olefins from a heavy reformate feed. The mixed xylenes separated from the treated heavy reformate are then converted to paraxylene by NPRC and others.
"We selected ExxonMobil Olgone technology to overcome difficulties associated with very short clay treater cycles at our refineryOlgone offered a way to significantly extend treater cycles as well as reduce the amount of spent clay generated from the treaters," says Hiroji Adachi, NPRC's technical service department general manager.
The Olgone technology employs the same basic chemistry as conventional clay systems to remove olefins, but its processing capacity is said to he 4-6 times that of clay, thanks to a proprietary catalyst system specifically engineered for lowtemperature alkylation reactions. And unlike clay, which needs to be periodically replaced, the Olgone catalyst can be regenerated, making it environmentally attractive. The Olgone technology can operate at the same process conditions as existing clay treaters, making a retrofit relatively simple and trouble-free.
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