【Sea River: Insights from Other Places】Cangzhou Refining & Chemical’s Polypropylene Plant – An Intelligent Layout to Improve Operational Efficiency

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The 25th National \"Safety Production Month\" in 2026: Everyone talks about safety, and everyone knows how to handle emergencies; identifying and addressing potential risks and hazards. -------------------------------------------------- Smart planning to improve operational efficiency: Changing the configuration of the adsorption towers in the refining system from parallel to series has yielded excellent results. ”Recently, Zhou Shangjiang, a process technician at the third oil refining unit of Cangzhou Refining & Chemical Co., said happily while referring to the operation records. After the process adjustment, all parameters of the propylene feed remained stable and within specified limits, and the amount of catalyst required was significantly reduced. Previously, the two adsorption towers in the refining system of the polypropylene plant had been operating in parallel mode for a long time. Affected by the conditions of the raw materials, the purification efficiency of the unit fails to meet expectations, and catalyst consumption continues to rise, posing significant challenges to stable production. “In parallel operation mode, the old and new adsorbents work simultaneously; many adsorption capacities remain underutilized before the adsorbents have to be replaced, which not only increases the cost of consumables but also hinders the stable operation of the system. ”Looking at the performance data, Zhou Shangjiang was extremely anxious. To this end, Refining Department 3 formed a dedicated task force to carefully analyze the processes and calculate relevant parameters, striving to overcome the production bottlenecks. After extensive evaluation, the team decided to operate the two adsorption towers in series. Everyone stayed on site to optimize the pipelines and operational procedures one by one, successfully completing the process modification. On this basis, the team implements a management approach that involves using old adsorbents first and new ones later: initial purification is carried out using old adsorbents that still have sufficient efficiency, followed by advanced treatment using new adsorbents, to ensure that all parameters of the raw materials remain within acceptable ranges. Today, this new process has been operating steadily for some time, and the problems that once troubled the team have been resolved. The purification efficiency has improved, and the service life of the chemicals has also been significantly extended. By making clever adjustments to the processes and implementing precise control, as well as through minor process optimizations, they have managed to overcome the challenges associated with reducing production costs.