According to the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), Taghi Saniei said on Monday that the company was able to upgrade its absorption towers without the presence of its European licensor, saying the plant was now able to fully supply Iran’s need for para-xylene.

He said the project was complete in a matter of 137 days, adding that 36,000 man-hours of engineering work were carried out for the purposes of the project.

This project was one of the major achievements of the facility which was completed for the first time in the country and added at total of $11 million to the company’s monthly revenue.

By upgrading the towers, the plant’s production capacity rose from 460,000 tons/year to 750,000 t/y, he added.

p-Xylene (para-xylene) is an aromatic hydrocarbon. It is one of the three isomers of dimethylbenzene known collectively as xylenes. The p- stands for para-, indicating that the two methyl groups in p-xylene occupy the diametrically opposite substituent positions 1 and 4.

It is in the positions of the two methyl groups, their arene substitution pattern, that it differs from the other isomers, o-xylene and m-xylene.

All xylene isomers are colorless and highly flammable. The odor threshold of p-xylene is 0.62 parts per million (ppm).