Start-up of world's largest isobutane dehydrogenation plant for MTBE production

Conference · Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:7078217

Al-Ghamdi, A A ^[1]; Al-Bassam, A M ^[2]; Draus, J L ^[3]

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1. Saudi European Petrochemical Co. Ibn Zahr, Al-Sinaiyah (Saudi Arabia)
2. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
3. ABB Lummus Crest, Inc., Bloomfield, NJ (United States)

Ibn Zahr's second CATOFIN[reg sign] dehydrogenation unit started on schedule with an exceptionally smooth and fast start-up. The success of the start-up can be attributed to many factors, including: competent and experienced commissioning and operations teams from both the owner and licensor (ABB Lummus Crest); well proven CATOFIN technology; and vendor representation on site. All process guarantees were met in a test run completed three weeks after the start-up. Ibn Zahr chose the CATOFIN process to produce isobutylene feed for both of their MTBE plants located in the Al Jubail Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The first CATOFIN plant came on stream in 1988 producing 320,000 MTA of isobutylene. The second CATOFIN plant is the largest dehydrogenation unit in the world, producing 452,000 MTA of isobutylene. It came on stream in October, 1993. With the two CATOFIN plants, Ibn Zahr has a combined MTBE production of 1,200,000 MTA (equivalent to 30,000 BPSD). This paper describes the successful start-up of Ibn Zahr's second CATOFIN plant.

• OSTI ID: 7078217
• Report Number(s): CONF-9403125--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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2-METHYLPROPANE
2-METHYLPROPENE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
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ADDITIVES
ALKANES
ALKENES
ARAB COUNTRIES
ASIA
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DEHYDROGENATION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DIAGRAMS
ETHERS
FLOWSHEETS
FUEL ADDITIVES
HYDROCARBONS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MIDDLE EAST
OPERATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
PRODUCTION
SAUDI ARABIA
SIZE
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT