Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co. Ltd. has selected Lummus Technology LLC to license proprietary propane dehydrogenation technology for a major new unit at its Zhoushan Green Petrochemical Base in China.
The project will deepen integration across one of the world’s largest combined refining and petrochemical sites.
The proposed plant will have capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes per year of propylene.
Upon startup, it is expected to become the world’s largest licensed PDH unit, according to separate announcements issued by Lummus and catalyst supplier Clariant Ltd. on Sept. 10.
The unit will convert propane into propylene, a critical building block for plastics and other higher value petrochemical products.
Its scale reflects ZPC’s continuing effort to capture more value from feedstocks processed within the vast industrial complex on Yushan Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province.
ZPC operates an integrated refining and petrochemical complex with capacity of 40 million tonnes per year.
The addition of another large conversion unit will broaden its chemical production platform while linking planned propylene output with downstream manufacturing opportunities at the site.
The operator also expects to use additional propane supplies generated through continuing expansions of the integrated complex.
That internal feedstock availability could strengthen operating flexibility and support a more direct connection between refining streams, PDH processing, and downstream petrochemical production.
Clariant will supply its CATOFIN catalyst and heat generating material for the project. The catalyst package will be combined with the Lummus process design as part of the jointly marketed CATOFIN technology platform selected for the new Zhoushan unit.
Neither Lummus nor Clariant disclosed the value of the licensing and supply agreements.
The companies also did not provide a construction schedule, startup target, or commissioning timeline, leaving the commercial and execution details of the major capacity addition undisclosed.
The award represents ZPC’s first use of the CATOFIN propane dehydrogenation process.
Lummus said the Chinese operator previously relied on another PDH technology, making the new contract an important process selection for both the licensor and the expanding Zhoushan manufacturing platform.
Lummus and Clariant jointly market CATOFIN by combining Lummus process technology with Clariant’s catalyst system.
The companies say the platform is designed to deliver high propylene yields, stable plant operation, and production rates that can meet or exceed the facility’s stated design capacity.
Those performance targets will be crucial for a unit of this unprecedented licensed scale.
High utilization, reliable catalyst performance, and steady feedstock delivery will determine how effectively ZPC can translate the project’s immense nameplate capacity into dependable propylene supply for downstream conversion.
The PDH addition will join an extensive collection of refining and petrochemical assets already operating at the Zhoushan base.
ZPC has previously deployed several Lummus technologies within the complex, including CDAlky alkylation, ISOCRACKING, DPC, and butadiene extraction processes.
In 2021, Lummus reported the startup of ZPC’s second CDAlky unit at the manufacturing site.
That unit produces 45,000 b/d of alkylate and lifted the complex’s combined capacity using the CDAlky process to 59,000 b/d.
ZPC brought the first 400,000 b/d phase of the integrated complex into service in late 2018.
A second phase was subsequently developed and had nearly doubled the location’s refining and production capabilities by the end of 2022, establishing the scale needed for further chemical expansion.
The latest PDH contract follows another technology award connected with the complex in July 2026. Under that agreement, ABB Ltd. will supply electromagnetic flowmeters supporting Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer connectivity for ZPC’s 450,000 tonne per year adipic acid plant.
ABB’s instrumentation is intended to improve process monitoring, diagnostics, and operating visibility at the chemical unit.
Together with the planned PDH development, the project illustrates how ZPC is pairing enormous processing capacity with advanced licensing, catalyst, measurement, and control technologies across the Zhoushan site.
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