Successful Application of SANC-11 Catalyst for Manufacture of Acrylonitrile at Anqing Petrochemical Company

On April 12, 2018 the catalyst SANC-11 developed proprietarily by the SINOPEC Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology (SRIPT) had wholly replaced the existing catalyst in the 80 kt/a acrylonitrile unit at the Anqing Petrochemical Company,with the unit coming on stream at the first attempt.

Starting from October 2008, the 80 kt/a acrylonitrile unit at the Anqing Petrochemical Company began to use the catalyst SANC-08 developed by SRIPT, and has been operating with this catalyst for nearly ten years. This catalyst despite its extended cycle length has been running satisfactorily which has been praised by the client. Recently the rosy prospect of the acrylonitrile market inside China has spurred the management of Anqing Petrochemical Company on to wholly replace the existing catalyst with the new catalyst SANC-11 in April 2018 after receiving the approval from the Sinopec headquarters.

At present the catalyst SANC-11 is experiencing a run-in period, and the temperature of catalyst bed is at a low level when the reactor load is equivalent to about 90% of the full load. All performance indicators of the catalyst are higher than the values specified in the contract. Furthermore, the catalyst along with securing the specific yield of acrylonitrile can increase the specific yield of byproduct acetonitrile to maximize the economic benefit of the enterprise, which has been acknowledged and confirmed by the client.