The "Slurry Bed Hydrogenation Deconstruction Conversion Technology for Heavy Oil," developed by a team led by researchers Tian Zhijian and Ma Huaijun from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Xineng Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. in Karamay, has passed the technology evaluation organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation on April 16. The evaluation committee unanimously agreed that the technology is advanced in its indicators and has strong applicability. It has established an efficient and lightening new process for heavy oil conversion, different from conventional heavy oil hydrocracking, reaching the international leading level.
Since 2010, the team led by Tian Zhijian and Ma Huaijun has tackled the technical challenges of heavy oil conversion, proposing a new mechanism of "asphaltene hydrogenation deconstruction" and developing surface-active, highly dispersed, low-accumulation nano-MoS2 catalysts, as well as a new type of slurry bed reactor. They have developed a heavy oil slurry bed hydrogenation deconstruction conversion technology that allows for the external sulfidation and recycling of catalysts. The technology features a simple process flow, strong adaptability to heavy oil feedstocks, stable operation with minimal slagging and wear, high conversion rate of heavy oil, high liquid yield, low hydrogen consumption, and minimal dry gas production, outperforming existing heavy oil conversion technologies. Starting in 2016, the team collaborated with Xineng Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. in Karamay to build a set of thousand-ton-scale experimental units for heavy oil slurry bed hydrogenation deconstruction conversion. From 2020 to 2023, they conducted thousand-ton-scale heavy oil hydrogenation deconstruction conversion tests using representative feedstocks such as vacuum residue, extra-heavy oil, asphalt, and ethylene cracking tar. Under conditions of a reaction pressure of 18 MPa and a reaction temperature of 390 to 420°C, they achieved a conversion rate of heavy oil greater than 97% and a dry gas yield of less than 2%, with residual discharge not exceeding 3.0%.
The technology has obtained 33 patents and has complete independent intellectual property rights. Construction is underway for a 200,000-ton/year industrial demonstration of heavy oil slurry bed hydrogenation deconstruction conversion. This technology is expected to play a key role in the entire industry chain from upstream exploration to downstream processing in the petrochemical industry, contributing significantly to promoting the "low-carbon, high-value" development of China's refining industry and ensuring national energy security.
