Oparis™ is a new generation catalyst for ethylbenzene (EB) and xylenes isomerization. Oparis™ effectively converts EB into additional xylenes.
Breakthrough performance is achieved in both terms of selectivity and activity. When applied in a conventional Xylenes loop, Oparis™ yields up to 93% Paraxylene out of C8 aromatics. This unmatched level of performance is achieved with a lesser amount of catalyst compared to previous generation catalysts. Oparis™ is the preferred option whenever Benzene co-production needs to be minimized or eliminated. It is also a valuable option whenever Pyrolysis gasoline C8 aromatics, that are known to contain a lot of EB, are used as additional feed to the complex and Benzene co-production is undesirable.
EB isomerization proceeds via a C8 naphthenic intermediate equilibrium that limits the rate of reaction. Accurate management of the C8 naphthenes balance through the reactor is therefore essential for optimizing process performance. With the implementation of a dedicated C8 naphthenes recycle column, the Isomerization section performance is finely optimized owing to an internal recirculation.
Oparis™ was successfully commercialized in early 2001 as a replacement for a competitor’s catalyst in a recently commissioned plant.
