Abstract: The status of PX plant in China in recent years is summarized, and the industry development trend in the next few years is predicted. From the current situation and development of the isomerization process for increasing PX production, the ethylbenzene dealkylation process has the advantages of large processing capacity and high conversion rate of ethylbenzene, and is expected to occupy more market shares. An example of the transformation of the original converted type xylene isomerization device to the dealkylation process is analyzed. Although the implementation effect is not as good as the new device, the effective technical approach is to eliminate the bottleneck and optimize the operation process. In addition, the prospect of innovative research and exploration on the frontier of aromatic hydrocarbon production technology is also presented.

Key words: xylene isomerization, ethylbenzene conversion, ethylbenzene dealkylation, catalyst