Successful Startup of Methanol Cracking Based Hydrogen Production Unit at Zhongyuan Petrochemical Company

Successful Startup of Methanol Cracking Based Hydrogen Production Unit at Zhongyuan Petrochemical Company

On March 16, 2013 the unit for hydrogen production through methanol cracking had produced qualified hydrogen at the Zhongyuan Petrochemical Company (ZPC), with the purity of hydrogen reaching 99.99% to realize commissioning of this unit at the first attempt.

For a long time the downstream unit’s needs for hydrogen are provided exclusively by the steam cracker, which has been restricting the productive operation of ZPC. To tackle this problem, ZPC has constructed the hydrogen production unit based on methanol cracking that is characteristic of advanced process flow diagram, convenience in operation and control, less plot area, high product purity, and zero methanol discharge. After commissioning of the methanol cracking based hydrogen production unit, the hydrogen production capacity has totaled 250 m3/h. ZPC through readjusting the load of each process unit in an attempt to maximize economic benefits can meet the demand for hydrogen supplied to the PE unit and PP unit, that would be able to operate normally even in the case of shut-down of the steam cracking unit, which would be of great significance for stabilizing the operation of both PE and PP units.