The trial run of the extrusion granulation unit of the 400,000 tons per year polypropylene plant in Guangxi Petrochemical’s integration and transformation project was successful on the first attempt

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On September 19, the extrusion granulation unit of the 400,000 tons per year polypropylene plant in Guangxi Petrochemical’s integration and transformation project completed its trial run successfully, producing qualified granules. Through careful and orderly operations, the extrusion granulation unit successfully carried out key steps such as starting the main motor, feeding the material, using the die, closing the die, and starting the pelletizer to produce pellets. This marked a successful trial run of the actual material processing process for the polypropylene unit in Guangxi Petrochemical’s integration and transformation project. Guangxi Petrochemical’s integrated refining and chemical processing transformation project: Guangxi Petrochemical is a refinery with a capacity of ten million tons per year, operating on a single-series basis. The project utilizes a fully hydrogenation-based process flow, with advanced international technologies from companies such as UOP and DOW being employed in its key processes. It boasts advantages such as high safety and environmental standards, strong adaptability to different types of crude oil, complete facility infrastructure, and the production of high-quality, clean products. The refinery covers an area of over 3,800 mu and is equipped with 23 main processing units, including ones for atmospheric and vacuum distillation with a capacity of 10 million tons per year, heavy oil catalytic cracking with a capacity of 3.5 million tons per year, continuous reforming with a capacity of 2.2 million tons per year, and residue hydrodesulfurization with a capacity of 4 million tons per year, in addition to a complete set of utility systems. All the crude oil processed is imported from abroad, mainly sulfur-containing crude oil from the Middle East. It produces products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, aromatics, polypropylene, liquefied gas, asphalt, and sulfur. Based in Guangxi, it serves the surrounding areas and exports to Singapore, Australia, and other places. This project involves building an ethylene production facility with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year, along with related downstream units, on top of Guangxi Petrochemical’s existing crude oil processing capacity of 10 million tons per year, thereby achieving integrated transformation and upgrading of the refining and petrochemical industries. The refining complex relies on the existing 30 main production units; it will build a diesel adsorption and dearomatization unit with an annual capacity of 2 million tons, as well as a carbon dioxide recovery unit with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons (including a catalytic dry gas carbon dioxide recovery unit with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons and a carbon dioxide recovery unit with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons, both to be located in the chemical industry zone), while shutting down 2 of the main production units. Upon completion of the project, the overall processing flow in the refining section remains unchanged, and the product mix for refined products stays as it is; however, the annual production of gasoline and diesel will decrease, while high-quality raw materials will be supplied to the downstream ethylene plants. Fourteen new chemical processing units will be built in the chemical sector, including an ethylene plant with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year, a cracking gasoline hydrogenation/styrene extraction combined plant with a capacity of 550,000 tons per year, a butadiene extraction plant with a capacity of 180,000 tons per year, MTBE/butene-1 plants with capacities of 100,000/60,000 tons per year respectively, an aromatic extraction plant with a capacity of 350,000 tons per year, a full-density polyethylene plant (FDPE) with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year, a high-density polyethylene plant (HDPE) with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, a tubular ethylene-vinyl acetate plant (EVA) with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, a batch-type ethylene-vinyl acetate plant (H-EVA) with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year, a polypropylene plant (PP) with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year, a hexene-1 plant with a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, a propylene oxide/styrene plant (PO/SM) with capacities of 270,000/600,000 tons per year respectively, a polystyrene plant (PS) with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, and integrated styrene-butadiene rubber production plants (SSBR/SBS) with capacities of 120,000/80,000 tons per year respectively. Once the project is completed and put into operation, it will help CNPC Guangxi Petrochemical transform from a \"fuel-focused\" enterprise to one that produces chemical products and organic materials. It will facilitate a shift from a basic refining-based petrochemical industry to a modernized energy and chemical materials industry that combines both basic and high-end products. This is of great significance for filling the gap in the region’s high-end chemical and new material industries, meeting the market demands of areas along the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, and establishing a petrochemical industry cluster worth trillions of yuan aimed at serving ASEAN countries.