UOP selected by PetrocChina for new aromatics project
New complex to include world's largest para-xylene production plant
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UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that PetroChina Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), has selected UOP to supply technology, basic engineering services and equipment for an aromatics project to be installed at PetroChina's Urumqi facility.
Basic engineering design is underway, and commissioning of the complex, located in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is scheduled for early 2009. The new plant will produce one million metric tons per annum of para-xylene and will include the largest-capacity, single-train adsorption unit for para-xylene production in the world. The ParexTM process will be used for the adsorption unit. 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 360 thousand metric tons per annum of benzene.