The following simplified flowscheme shows the TransPlus 5 process in a typical fractionation and recovery section of an aromatics complex.
The TransPlus 5 process delivers improved products yields, very low ring loss, improved benzene purity and significantly extended cycles. While cycles of 7+ years have been achieved with the first generation catalysts, significantly longer cycles are anticipated with the TransPlus 5 process, now in commercial operation. Multiple in-situ regenerations of previous generation catalysts have been commercially demonstrated. Likewise, the catalyst used in the TransPlus 5 process is fully regenerable in-situ, allowing continued operation for many years beyond the first cycle. The TransPlus 5 process delivers substantial improvements over its predecessors such as higher C₉+ aromatics conversion per pass, higher selectivity to xylenes and benzene products, lower aromatics ring loss, longer cycles and reduced installed costs. The TransPlus 5 process operation at higher C₉+ aromatics conversion per pass allows reduced recycle rates and reduced operating costs versus prior generations.
The TransPlus 5 process is the third generation of transalkylation technology licensed by ExxonMobil. The process features a high-activity, co-extruded dual zeolite catalyst formulation with low precious metal content, higher operating weight hourly space velocity (WHSV), and an expanded temperature window compared to the prior generation technology.