July 6, 2005 - "Axens to license SK Corporation’s Advanced Pyrolysis Gasoline Upgrading Technology"
Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France) has been selected by SK Corporation (Seoul, Korea) as the licensing partner for its Advanced Pygas Upgrading (APU) Technology. The APU process, developed by SK, enables the reduction of low valued pyrolysis gasoline by converting it into additional purified aromatics and into LPG, a steam cracker feedstock.
This selective catalytic technology increases BTX (benzene, toluene and xylenes) production via the hydrodealkylation of C9+ aromatics. In addition, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas: propane and butanes) production is increased through selective cracking and hydrogenation of non-aromatic compounds into light paraffinic products. Through the recycling of the light ends to the steam cracker, additional ethylene and propylene are produced. Due to these reactions, the BTX stream does not require solvent extraction treatment. Benzene can be used as-is for the production of other building blocks, such as ethylbenzene-styrene. Toluene purity is ideal as a transalkylation feedstock, and the xylenes fraction does not require further extraction before separation to recover paraxylene.
The agreement was signed today by Tae-Won Chey, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of SK Corporation and Jean Sentenac, President and Chief Executive Officer of Axens in Seoul, Korea.
Axens’ intention is to launch APU licensing immediately with particular interest in targeting naphtha crackers interested in debottlenecking their benzene, toluene and mixed xylenes production.
SK Corporation SK Corporation, part of the SK Group, is the leading energy and chemical company in Korea with sales of USD 16.6 billion in 2004 and has the world’s second largest single oil refinery. Established in 1962, SK Corporation has established operations in a number of core areas including petroleum, petrochemicals, lubricants and oil exploration & production. The company has 810,000 barrels per day of refining capacity and produces 4.3million tons per year of petrochemical products. It is headquartered in Seoul with offices around the world including Europe, the U.S., South America and Asia.
