dalian institute of Chemical Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences

1. BP Dalian
Energy Innovation
Laboratory
2013 Brochure
A BP-funded program which aims to carry out fundamental
underpinning science, advanced materials development and
chemical process research in the areas of energy and
chemicals. BP has established its first research team in China
to collaborate with DICP and support BP’s business activities
globally. To date this research has included work in the
following fields:
•Sugar Chemistry
•Syngas Chemistry
•Advanced Materials
•Computational Fluid Dynamics
A 20 year collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Science,
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics for research and
development in catalysis and material science.
DRAFT VERSION 0.9
Steering Committee
Michael
Desmond
Mike Muskett Angelo Amorelli Can Li Xinhe Bao Jie Xu
Chief Chemist, BP
Distinguished
Advisor, BP
VP, Science &
Technology, BP
China
Deputy Director &
Academician,
DICP
Academician,
DICP
Professor,
DICP
We have been collaborating with DICP for over 10 years. Our
partnership combines DICP’s academic research strength with
BP’s international energy expertise, applied to some very
important scientific challenges. This brochure introduces our
program and presents our current projects.
Aaron Weiner, Director EIL 2013
We have worked together with BP, as one of our most important
partnerships on a number of research projects spanning from
basic to applied research in clean energy and chemicals. This
collaboration not only promoted BP's business in the industry
but also fostered our academic interests and fundamental
understanding. We hope to further strengthen the collaboration
and make even more successful progress in the future.
Can Li, Deputy Director, DICP

2. Hydrogenating Vegetable Oils: Working with DICP and PetroChina to develop a
novel bio-diesel process
In today’s world of growing biofuel mandates, the industry is looking for a
cost effective process to convert biomass into liquid transportation fuels.
To address this, BP created a three party agreement with DICP and
PetroChina to develop a single step process to convert plant derived oils
(lipids) into biodiesel. DICP’s Professor Zhijian Tian’s group is focusing
on a developing a multifunctional catalyst which not only converts the
lipids into diesel range molecules, but minimizes the hydrogen
consumption by minimizing how much oxygen is removed through
hydrodeoxygenation. In a lipid deoxygenation step, there are generally
three parallel pathways: hydrodeoxygenation, hydrodecarboxylation and
hydrodecarbonylation as shown in the figure. This project aims to combine
the deoxygenation and isomerization steps in a single reactor with the
deoxygenation preferably following the path that minimizes hydrogen
consumption. It is believed that the process developed in this project will
have a lower CapEx by reducing the two reactor process into one and
reduce the OpEx by minimizing the hydrogen consumption. However, the
process also loses a Carbon molecule to CO or CO2, so the economics will
be influenced by the relative price of both the feedstock and hydrogen. At
the end of 2012, the DICP developed a series of catalysts at the bench-scale
level that shows promise and has filed for both a PCT (Patent Cooperation
Treaty) and Chinese patent. The next steps for the process are for both
PetroChina and the EIL to run larger scale tests at our respective
laboratories on different feedstocks over a range of conditions to test the
robustness of the catalysts and obtain data for further economic analysis.
BP is working with DuPont to develop and commercialize iso-butanol as an
advanced biofuel. The process uses fermentation to create the bio-butanol,
however iso-butanol is toxic to the fermentation cells above a certain
concentration, so it needs to be removed from the water in a continuous
fashion. Although conventional technologies like distillation can be used,
using a membrane can reduce both CapEx and OpEx. Professor Weishen
Yang at the DICP has spent four years developing a membrane for this
separation. The group has created three generations of membrane materials
including the current composite mixed matrix membrane. The flux and
separation data is similar to other membranes being developed in this
industry. Future work will explore the membranes operating performance
at different operating conditions that would make it more commercially
viable.
Membranes: Evaluating advanced materials for novel bio-fuel separations
Fungibledieselfromsoybeanoil
Thereactionpathways
Butanolseparationprocessusingmembranes
Earlyversionsofmembranetechnologies

3. Sugar Chemistry: Finding new routes for producing green versions of fuels and
chemicals
Sugar chemistry opens up novel pathways to exploit renewable
resources to replace some chemicals & fuels. Professor Jie
Xu’s group has a strong history in this area. He has developed
catalysts for the cleavage of sorbitol to glycols, oxidation of
xylene, converting cyclohexane to cyclohexanone and has built
a 1000 ton/yr pilot plant for converting glycerol to 1,2-
propanediol. BP sponsored exploratory research to explore the
etherification of sugar derived Ethylene Glycol and Propylene
Glycol, with Methanol and/or Ethanol to make Glymes (glycol
di-ethers). The intent was to use them as a diesel additive due
to their high energy density, high cetane number and suitable
melting and boiling points. The project team successfully
screened a series of catalysts and found they could produce
high yields of 1,2-diethoxyethane and 1,2-diethoxypropane.
However, concerns about the toxicity of blending Glymes into
motor fuels caused us to look for other sugar chemistry
opportunities. In 2013, BP plans to begin a new collaboration
with Professor Xu looking at new platform molecules and
converting sugar to mono ethylene glycol.
Photo-catalysis: Exploring renewable pathways for hydrogen production
Continuing the theme of green renewable pathways, we funded some
fundamental solar research with Professor Can Li. Solar pathways to
produce hydrogen and chemicals have worldwide academic attention and
are seen as the ultimate clean energy solutions for the future. Professor
Can Li’s team explored how solar energy and catalysis broke down
biomass to produce hydrogen at ambient conditions. Those familiar with
how hydrogen is produced today will know it uses fossil fuels reacted at
high temperature and pressure, usually with water. Professor Can Li’s
group at the DICP undertook a two year exploratory project which ended
in 2012 using a titanium dioxide based photo-catalyst. Key learning’s
from this project were around the effect of surface phase structure of the
TiO2 catalyst on hydrogen production. It was discovered that the phase
junction formed between anatase and rutile can significantly enhance the
photo-catalytic activity due to the promoted charge separation. The
hydrogen can be produced from photo-catalytic reforming of methanol at
room temperature while the CO side product is limited to ppm levels. The
team also looked at assisting the photo-catalytic reaction by combining it
with a thermal catalytic reaction. In addition to the work at the DICP, BP
is sponsoring a student from the University of Liverpool who is also
working in the area of photo-catalysis under the direction of Professor
Jianliang Xiao.
Processforconvertingsugarstoglymes
Physicalpropertiesofglymescomparedtodiesel
Processforusingsolarenergytoproducehydrogen
PhotoofTiO2catalyst

4. Syngas Chemistry: Novel catalysis to produce gasoline and chemicals
Today there are two typical processes for converting synthesis gas (CO+H2) from natural gas, coal or biomass into hydrocarbons:
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FT) which makes alkane liquid hydrocarbon products, typically diesel or chemicals and methanol to
hydrocarbon processes which can make olefins (MTO), gasoline (MTG), aromatics (MTA), propylene (MTP) or paraffins.
Professor Qingjie Ge’s team at the DICP is developing and screening new catalyst systems to modify the products derived from
the conversion of syngas via methanol and/or DME to iso-paraffinic gasoline. We are looking to Professor Ge’s team to be as
creative as possible in their collaboration with BP. The first year of the project has yielded a catalyst that has 60% conversion and
65% selectivity to C5-C11 molecules. In addition, the CO and H2 consumption ratio is close to 1, which is suitable for coal
gasification syngas. The C5-C8 fraction is mostly iso-paraffins, however the C9-C11 fraction is mostly aromatics. Going
forward, aside from working to improve the conversion and selectivity, Professor Ge will work on improving the product mixture
to target higher value feedstock and blending components in terms of olefins, aromatics and iso-paraffins. The chart shows the
relative value of these products.
Syngas processes: Helping BP Petrochemicals investigate fundamental science
underpinning the Acetyls business
BP works with DICP professors on projects that help us to
develop a more fundamental understanding of certain
technologies we employ.
Professor Wenjie Shen is working on just such a project that
helps to support BP’s Acetyls business. His team’s work is
focused on the fundamental understanding of some specific
chemistries that can provide insights into catalyst development,
catalyst characterization and kinetic modeling.
This work compliments the applied research we do internally at
BP and gives us the opportunity to better understand what is
happening on the surfaces of the working catalysts. We have
begun the fifth year of a six year relationship with Professor Shen
and have been very pleased with the research he has provided.
LowHigh
Potential value of moleculesSyngas offers alternative paths to oil derived products
Picturesofcatalystunderoperatingconditions

5. Advanced Materials: State of the art in-situ catalyst characterization
Professor Xinhe Bao’s group is one of the world leaders in fundamental, in-situ characterization of catalysts and owns or has
developed state of the art characterization equipment. BP, through the office of the Chief Chemist, has signed a three year
relationship with his group, led by Professor Xiulian Pan, to provide us with fundamental understanding of new and existing
chemical processes. This collaboration includes novel catalyst systems, described in the next section, as well as responding to
specific questions arising from our own research. For example, BP’s Conversion Technology Center has a group that is working on
BP’s proprietary Fischer-Tropsch process (FT), which converts syngas to liquid hydrocarbons. FT chemistry often relies on the
impregnation of iron or cobalt on heterogeneous, non-ordered porous supports with large pore channels. However, the mechanistic
understanding of the FT process is highly complex and requires subtle optimization of the support, synthesis method, promoter
metals, calcination conditions, reduction of the active species and start-up procedures with syngas. They assisted our FT group by
providing insights into the influence of the activation conditions on the compositions and structures of the catalysts as well as their
correlation with their final catalytic performance. This was accomplished by running a series of proprietary techniques using in-situ
XRD, XPS and TEM. This has provided clues as to how to optimize commercial start-up operating conditions.
Advanced Materials: Nano-structured carbons for novel catalysis
Nano-structured carbon has been shown to exhibit unique catalytic properties. The
DICP has found that carbon nanotubes, which possess well defined tubular
morphology with unique electronic structure, can provide an intriguing confinement
environment for nano-catalysis. The size of the encapsulated material can be
restricted to the nano or sub-nano scale within the channels. Interacting with curved
graphene and heteroatom-doped graphene induces modified physiochemical
properties of metal species, and hence the adsorption and activation of reactants,
stabilization of intermediates and diffusion of reactant and product molecules. All
these could have a profound effect on reaction rates, and may also change the
reaction mechanisms. Under the BP Chief Chemist’s program, Professor Xiulian Pan
is using these new types of catalysts for synthesizing light olefins. The first phase of
work found catalysts with high selectivity but low activity as well as catalysts with
high activity but low selectivity. Using these results, they were able to try other
metal additives as well as various doping agents that improved both activity and
selectivity. The key is to fundamentally understand the structure-performance
correlation, and how these nano-structured carbon can be utilized to improve the
catalytic activity and selectivity.
Multipurposecatalystcharacterizationequipment Photoemissionelectronmicroscope
Carbonnanotube
In situ XRD

6. Advanced Materials: Finding real world applications for Graphenes
The Institute of Metal Research (IMR) in Shenyang, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one of the top institutes in China
working on material science. The BP Chief Chemist’s office has signed a consultancy agreement with the IMR that gives us
access and rights to research outputs in Graphene and Battery Technology, while BP brings expertise in patent filing and
technology exploitation outside of China to the IMR. The focus of the research, carried out within IMR’s Advanced Carbon
Research Division, will assist BP in developing a deeper insight into the high profile research world of Graphene and Battery
Technology.
Graphene is a newly discovered two-dimensional carbon material which possesses many fascinating physical and chemical
properties and a wide range of potential applications. It is composed of pure carbon, with atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal
pattern similar to graphite, but in a one-atom thick sheet. This makes it extremely strong, yet flexible. Graphenes have been
touted for multiple applications - such as electronics, sensors, coatings, anti-corrosion, energy storage or catalyst support. The
IMR team has currently built a pilot production line to produce graphene nano-sheets based on their proprietary synthesis method
in collaboration with another company and has developed a graphene sponge that could have applications for separations
technology.
Batteries are an important source of energy storage and the industry is constantly looking for ways to create a step-change increase
in energy storage capacity. The IMR has developed a flexible nanostructured sulfur–carbon nanotube cathode with high
performance for Li-S batteries. Moreover, they have designed and fabricated flexible graphene-based lithium ion batteries with
ultrafast charge and discharge rates using graphene foam, a highly-conductive three-dimensional graphene network. Such
innovations could be used in mobile applications, transportation and in industrial operations.
Picturesofthesurfaceofgraphenesandgraphenesbeingusedasaspongetoabsorbdieseloil
Cathode
Anode
Separator
e―
e―
Picturesoftheflexiblegraphene-basedlithium ionbatteries

7. Computational Fluid Dynamics: Building capability in China to support BP
globally
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is an advanced simulation tool that BP is using to
better simulate complex single or multiphase problems where there is a need to evaluate
the effects of velocity, temperature, pressure and phase interaction (liquid, gas & solids) in
a process where the geometry is well-defined. The EIL supported BP’s Downstream CFD
group in 2012 on a variety of topics.
BP’s Upstream business is using CFD modeling to make better informed safety critical
decisions. One of our EIL chemical engineers provided expert support by modeling sand
erosion in a deep water well, to better understand if the predicted erosion exceeded BP’s
standard under the specified operating conditions. A second project was also completed in
conjunction with BP’s Downstream CFD team on the same question for a different well.
In downstream applications, the EIL has focused on CFD work in three main areas: crude
oil mixing in tanks, bubble column multiphase flow and fluidized bed reactors. The work
is done in collaboration with two research institutes in China; DICP and the Institute of
Process Engineering (IPE) in Beijing. At DICP, we are working with Professors Zhongmin
Liu and Mao Ye to develop a model to study heat removal, volume reduction and pressure
increase in a fluidized bed reactor using a simple methanation process (syngas to natural
gas) as the model system. In 2012, various 2-D simulations were conducted to explore bed
expansion, emulsion phase characteristics and bubble behavior under different operating
conditions. Future plans include setting up experimental units which will be used to
visually verify the results.
A collaboration has also been initiated between BP, funded jointly by Downstream
technology and Group Technology’s DRL initiative, and the IPE in late 2012 to use their
multi-scale modeling capabilities on two specific BP applications. The first is tank-mixing
to find a way to increase computational speed and the second is to simulate bubble
columns to assess the full potential of the EMMS approach for multiphase-flow modeling.
The IPE has developed a truly world-class multi-scale modeling capability over the past
several decades. The group uses an original, first-principles-based approach called the
Energy-Minimization-Meso-Scale (EMMS) to capture the intricate flow structures
resulting from complex inter-phase dynamics in multiphase flows. This, combined with
their state-of-the-art computing hardware facilities, enables them to solve complex
problems from molecular modeling to systems engineering.
Deepwateroilplatform
Airbubblingthroughvariousliquids
CFDmodelofatankmixing
CFDmodeloferosioninapipe

8. Our team, our facilities, our capabilities
BP’s Energy Innovation Laboratory (EIL) is a research technology center and
laboratory, part of BP Downstream’s China Technology & Engineering
activities. It is located in the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP),
Chinese Academy of Sciences. The DICP is one of China’s top institution in
materials and chemical process development. They have 495 professors, 13
Academicians, 1028 staff members and 777 graduate students.
The laboratory opened in 2011 and has five pilot plants that can be used for
catalyst testing including a 16 reactor high throughput unit, laboratory
equipment to make and characterize catalysts and analytical equipment to
characterize the hydrocarbon feeds and products. In addition, we have access
to much of DICP’s state of the art equipment. The experiments performed in
the laboratory support both the DICP projects we collaborate on as well as
other BP technology groups.
The EIL employs 10 full time BP staff who not only work in our laboratory,
but support other scientific endeavors in BP. The team has a core of PhD
Chemists, all of whom either attended or worked at the DICP before joining
BP. They work closely with DICP research groups to find new fields to
collaborate on, and then support these projects, including running experiments
in the EIL lab. They also run experiments to support BP’s technology groups
including support of BP Petrochemical and Shanghai BiKe CECC (BP & CAS
JV) in particular. The team also monitors technology and science being
developed in China and are connected into BP’s scientific networks.
The EIL also has two chemical engineers (both Dalian natives) on site who
provide process engineering support for our laboratory and perform process
design and economic analysis of the DICP projects we sponsor. In addition,
our engineers support the wider BP in Computational Fluid Dynamic
modeling, and with BP’s Conversion technology group on processes such as
gasification (also with Tsinghua University) and VCC™ petroleum
residue/coal hydrocracking (also with KBR China).
EILlaboratory
EILoffice
Autoclavesformakingcatalyst
EILlaboratoryEILofficebuildingEILopeningceremony