Hongrun Petrochemical Technology Co. has commissioned a white oil project that includes an API Group III plant at its oil refinery in Weifang, Shandong province, China.
The project, whose price tag was not disclosed, included two white oil units, according to a news release Wednesday by Chevron Lumm Global, which licensed technology for the project. The first is a Group III plant with capacity to produce 500,000 metric tons per year of Group III oil. That unit is capable of making industrial grade white oil. The second unit does not make base oil but can produce 200,000 t/y of food-grade white oils.
Chevron Lummus said the project includes the world’s largest hydroprocessing unit for white oil. The plant uses Chevron Lummus’ isdoweaxing and isomerization propriety technology, and its hydrofinishing technology, which use noble-metal catalysts to produce base oils at lower temperatures than conventional methods. The project was first announced in September 2019.
Hongrun is a subsidiary of Sinochem, a chemical giant owned by the Chinese government.
White oil is a highly refined mineral oil that is used in a wide variety of applications, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food processing and industrial lubricants. Food-grade white oil is a special type of white oil that is manufactured to meet the strict purity requirements of the food and beverage industry.
Chinese companies have worked in recent years to develop domestic white oil sources so as to reduce the country’s dependence on imports. In China, six categories of white oils are recognized, each with its own standards: light white oil, white oil feedstock, industrial white oil, cosmetic white oil, food-grade white oil and pharmaceutical white oil.
The country drafted new standards for white oils in 2018. The new standard, drafted by Sinopecs Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals, updates the current version, which was launched in 2002. The new standard aims to better regulate the industrial white oil sector and improve the quality of Chinese-made white oils.
White oils can be made by further refining base oils. Group II are most used to make white oils, followed by Group I, naphthenic base oils and then Group III.