The new unit, located in Binzhou City, Shandong Province, successfully started up in May, and is set to produce 116,000 tonnes/year of propylene and 104,000 tonnes/year of isobutylene.
UOP’s Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and isobutane to isobutylene.
The unit is currently only the second of its kind in the world.
It is also the first of three to be commissioned in China. Two other Chinese producers have licensed the technology for start-up in 2017.
According to UOP, Chinese producer Dongming Petrochemical Group has commissioned a unit, and will produce 2655,000 tonnes/year of propylene and isobutylene.
In addition, Chinese producer Dongying Liyuan will produce 220,000 tonnes/year of propylene and isobutylene using the process.
The two future facilities will also use UOP’s Butamer process, which converts normal butane into isobutene to increase feedstock flexibility for the Oleflex process.
Propylene is used to make plastics, packaging and synthetic fibre, while isobutylene is a component used in making high-octane gasoline and synthetic rubber.