Abstract: SKI-320 dealkylation type catalyst for C8 aromatics isomerization has been commercialized in a 1.0 Mt/a aromatic combination plant of Company A. To realize the capacity expansion requirements, the internal components of the isomerization reactor were modified by installing perforated isolation baffles, the resulting catalyst bed parameters closely match those of refining Company B’s original design for dealkylation processes, ensuring optimal performance of the SKI-320 catalyst. The loading of the catalyst is controllable and stable, and the catalyst is started up smoothly and easily. After being put into use，the catalyst shows good performance during operation. Performance benchmarking showed: single-pass xylene isomerization rate reached 23.82%, ethylbenzene conversion rate achieved 68.32%, and xylene yield was 98.87%. This marks the first successful industrial-scale demonstration of a upgraded reactor achieving performance comparable to that of an originally designed unit.

Key words: dealkylation type, C₈ aromatics isomerization, catalyst, internals, reactor