On October 9 and 10, Chairman Ning Gaoning visited Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd to investigate the startup of ethylene project. He inspected the central control room, the 1,000,000 t/a ethylene project, the polyolefin product packaging line, the three-dimensional warehouse, etc., and expressed warm greetings to the cadres and employees of the company.
On the project site Chairman Ning said: “The ethylene project has created many 'firsts' in the history of Sinochem, and the mode of integrated oil refining and petrochemical production has bridged Sinochem’s gap in this area that had existed for many years. As a petrochemical enterprise, Sinochem now has a self-built complete petrochemical industry chain for the first time, which will surely lead the future development of the Group.”
▲ A panoramic view of the integrated oil refining and petrochemical production project of Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd
Covering 434 hectares of land, the 1,000,000 t/a ethylene project is a key project of the National Petrochemical Industry Layout and Development Plan. It is designed according to the guiding ideology of "Cutting-edge in China and first-class in the world" and the principle of "high technology, high value added and differentiation".
The project successfully went into operation and produced the first batch of products on September 20, 2020. It will significantly promote the development of its mid-and-downstream industries and related industries in Fujian, East China and South China, and contribute to the construction of B&R and the economic take-off on the west side of the Taiwan Straits.
For this project, Tianhua Institute, an enterprise affiliated to China National Chemical Equipment Co., Ltd., completed the detailed design of the quench heat exchange system of the ethylene cracking furnace, which is the core equipment, and successfully applied its latest research results to the design.
One of the first companies engaged in in chemical equipment research in China, Tianhua Institute boasts abundant experience in designing quench heat exchangers of ethylene cracking furnaces, and has accumulated numerous successful cases in years of practice in the petrochemical industry. The technical indicators have reached the international advanced level, and the related technologies have been completely localized.
▲ One corner of the 1,000,000 t/a ethylene project of Quanzhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd
The project’s quench heat exchange system consists of a primary quench exchanger (PQE), a secondary quench exchanger (SQE), a high-pressure steam drum, and a riser and downcomer system. Based on the project’s technical and energy-saving requirements, and its latest research results, Tianhua Institute put forward new PQE and SQE structures, simulated process calculation, stress analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the ethylene quench heat exchanger by using self-developed design software and the ANSYS software, and completed detailed design of the double-pipe PQE and the large vertical SQE where process gas goes in from the top and comes out from bottom, all of which were successfully applied in the construction of the project. According to actual operation data from the site, the process simulation is reliable.
▲Chairman Ning Gaoning showing samples of the first batch of qualified polyethylene and polypropylene products of the project
Tianhua Institute will closely follow the operation of the quench heat exchanger, put forward suggestions on its long-term operation, and ensure its service life, so that the whole cracking unit will work safely, efficiently and environmentally friendly to bring greater economic and social benefits.
*Photos and some of the text come from the Wechat public account of Sinochem: sinochemgroup