【HaiChuan Chemical Engineering Updates】Successful one-time installation of key equipment for Jihua’s 400,000 tons/year high-density polyethylene production facility as part of its transformation and upgrading efforts

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The critical equipment for Jihua’s 400,000 tons per year high-density polyethylene production facility was successfully lifted in one go as part of the company’s transformation and upgrading efforts. From July 10 to 14, 2024, the three reactors and the centrifuge feed tank for this facility were lifted all at once, achieving the feat of lifting such large-scale equipment across utility tunnels within just five days and four attempts. Each of these three reactors has a net weight of 130.1 tons, a diameter of 5 meters, and a height of 18.65 meters ； The centrifuge feed tank has a net weight of 61.5 tons, a diameter of 5 meters, and a height of 18.48 meters. These devices are the core and essential equipment in the HDPE production process; especially the reactor, which is regarded as the \"king\" of HDPE plants. During the production process, a mixed suspension of substances such as ethylene, hydrogen, butene-1, refined hexane, activators, and catalysts is fed sequentially into three polymerization reactors. The polymerization products are then sent to a centrifuge feed tank, where they undergo processes such as centrifugation, drying, and extrusion granulation, ultimately resulting in high-density polyethylene products. The Jilin Petrochemical Refining and Chemical Transformation Project, with a total investment of 33.9 billion yuan, is the largest single industrial project in Jilin Province. It will help Jilin Petrochemical shift from a focus on fuel production to one centered on chemical products and organic materials. The project includes the construction of 21 refining and chemical units with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons of ethylene and 600,000 tons of ABS, the renovation of 9 units, and the shutdown of 7 units including one with an annual ethylene production capacity of 150,000 tons. Jilin Petrochemical’s current total oil refining capacity is 9.8 million tons per year. Upon the implementation of this project, the refining division of Jilin Petrochemical will adjust the types of crude oil processed, while keeping the total processing capacity unchanged. New facilities will be built, including a 2.2 million tons per year wax oil hydrocracking unit (including a 300,000 tons per year naphtha normal/isomerization unit), a 1 million tons per year diesel adsorption unit, and a 300,000 tons per year C2 recovery unit. The existing Unit I atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit will be retrofitted in a different location, with the crude oil processed there changed to Russian crude; Unit II atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit will undergo adaptive modifications to process Qingdao/Jilin crude oil ； The 900,000 tons per year hydrocracking unit has been converted into a catalytic diesel hydrogenation and upgrading unit; while maintaining its crude oil processing capacity, it now uses straight-run diesel as raw material and no longer processes wax oil ； Environmental improvement of a 1 million tons/year delayed coking unit ； The solvent regeneration system of the III sulfur recovery unit in the 20,000–20,000 tons/year sulfur recovery complex was adapted to enable a processing capacity of 240 tons per hour, while the II catalytic cracking unit was shut down. The chemical processing section will feature a new ethylene plant with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons. Downstream, facilities will be built for the hydrogenation of pyrolysis gasoline at a capacity of 1 million tons per year, a combined aromatics extraction plant with a capacity of 450,000 tons per year, a high-density polyethylene plant with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year, an ethylene oxide plant with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, an EVA plant with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year, a phenol propylcate plant with a capacity of 350,000 tons per year, a bisphenol A plant with a capacity of 240,000 tons per year, an EPDM plant with a capacity of 40,000 tons per year, an MTBE/1-butene plant with capacities of 100,000/40,000 tons per year respectively, a styrene plant with a capacity of 600,000 tons per year, an acrylonitrile plant with a capacity of 260,000 tons per year, an ABS plant with a capacity of 600,000 tons per year, a solvent deasphalting plant with a capacity of 800,000 tons per year, an asphalt gasification plant with a capacity of 160,000 tons per year, a butadiene rubber plant with a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, and an acetonitrile plant with a capacity of 8,000 tons per year. Once the project is completed and put into operation, Jilin Petrochemical Company’s crude oil processing capacity will remain at its current level; the strategy of \"reducing oil production and increasing chemical product production\" will yield significant results, with 2.63 million tons of oil products being reduced annually and approximately 2.8 million tons more of chemical products being produced. The total ethylene production capacity reaches 1.9 million tons per year ； The production capacity of key chemical products such as ABS resin, acrylonitrile, and methyl methacrylate is among the highest in China ； The scale advantages of ethylene-propylene rubber, styrene, and high-density polyethylene are fully utilized ； New products such as EVA, bisphenol A, and styrene-butadiene rubber have been added, facilitating further expansion of the industrial chain and a more rational product structure. Develop an industrial layout and product structure that reflect the characteristics of Jilin Petrochemical and offer competitive advantages in the market, thereby moving toward the higher end of the industrial chain.