Discussion on power fluctuations in the petrochemical industry

On June 3, 2008, an fire broke out suddenly in the ethylene plant at Maoming Petrochemical. The cause of the accident was a lightning strike on the external power line located 11 kilometers away from the Xiepingling substation, which led to a temporary power outage. As a result, 12 units and pumps, including Unit 2 for cracking and Unit 1 for polypropylene production in the plant’s chemical division, stopped operating. After the vehicles left the site, various workshops promptly carried out emergency pressure relief in the flare network. As multiple units discharged waste gas into Flare D at the same time, the pressure in that flare network became extremely high. The oil and gas discharge from Unit 2 could not keep up with this demand, which caused the expansion joint in the straight section downstream of the furnace quench boiler to rupture, allowing hot oil and gas to escape and catch fire.

A simple dual-power supply system that serves as a backup to each other is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of petrochemical enterprises. Electrical engineers must consider flicker, tripping, and the time for reclosing. This places high demands on switches (high and low voltage switches, contactors), as well as BZTs and quick disconnects.

For the core loads that are part of the process interlocks, anti-flicker power supply modifications are necessary. The approach is to ensure that the equipment can continue to operate after a flicker occurs, or to provide a certain delay time that allows operators on site to shut down the equipment in an orderly manner in accordance with process requirements, thereby preventing production accidents. For specific solutions, please contact our company: Cao Chenglin from Nanjing Guochen, phone number 18913047147; the WeChat ID is the same!