Thread Content
China’s first domestically developed subsea water injection tree was put into use in February. China National Offshore Oil Corporation announced that this core equipment for underwater oil production – China’s first subsea water injection tree developed independently – has been deployed in the Zhanjiang sea area. This underwater water injection tree is 3.5 meters long, 3.2 meters wide, and 3 meters high, with a total weight of nearly 22 tons. It features light weight and low cost; compared to similar products abroad, its weight is reduced by 40% and its cost by 60%, making it suitable for use in shallow waters. The injection tree put into use this time is expected to increase crude oil production by 50,000 tons. It features an innovatively designed hydraulic docking bushing that addresses challenges such as the precise alignment of vertical water injection trees with tubing hangers. Together with the development of large-diameter, water-resistant high-pressure risers, it solves the problem of incompatibility when installing subsea wellheads on jackup platforms, thereby improving operational efficiency. The world’s largest ethanol production facility achieved successful commissioning on the morning of February 28th at 10:40 a.m.; the 600,000 tons per year ethanol production plant as part of Anhui Carbonxin Technology Co., Ltd.’s methanol comprehensive utilization project managed to produce its first batch of high-quality ethanol. The project is located in the Anhui (Huaibei) New Coal Chemical Synthesis Materials Base, and it is currently the largest ethanol production facility in the world. Based on methanol, the main product of Phase I, this facility utilizes the DMTE process technology owned by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to produce high-quality ethanol through processes such as dimethyl ether formation, carbonylation, hydrogenation, and product separation. Once completed, the project will have an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of anhydrous ethanol. First fully domestically produced large-scale hydrogen liquefier passed acceptance test On March 8, the first fully domestically produced large-scale hydrogen liquefier – a 5-ton/day capacity hydrogen liquefaction system – passed the testing and acceptance process in Beijing, with its overall performance reaching international advanced levels. This liquefier is a result of a pilot project undertaken by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and was developed by the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The equipment utilizes a helium refrigeration cycle, a continuous ortho-para hydrogen conversion technology, and a low-temperature turboexpander with independent intellectual property rights. Under full-load operation conditions, its hydrogen liquefaction rate is 3070.2 liters per hour (approximately 5.17 tons per day); the secondary hydrogen content in the liquid hydrogen product is 98.66%, and the energy efficiency ratio of the liquefaction system is 12.98 kWh per kilogram of liquid hydrogen (including losses due to liquid nitrogen). On March 12, the largest single-unit alkaline hydrogen production equipment produced in China was delivered; two units of the LONGi ALK G series, with a capacity of 3000 Nm3/h each, manufactured by Longi Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., were completed. This equipment is currently the alkaline electrolyzer with the largest single-unit hydrogen production capacity in China. This marks its first industrial application. The ALK G series of alkaline electrolyzers achieve a significant increase in hydrogen production per cell by raising the current density and increasing the electrolysis area. They offer advantages in terms of reducing equipment manufacturing costs and project investment costs, while also maintaining product performance and low power consumption. Moreover, their structural design is optimized to ensure the safety and reliability of the electrolyzers, making them suitable for industrial sectors such as coal chemistry and refining, where there is a high demand for green hydrogen. On March 27, the world’s largest facility for producing sulfuric acid and cement from phosphogypsum was successfully tested after being put into operation for the first time. This facility was built by Guizhou Phosphorus Chemical Group. This project opens up new avenues for the sustainable utilization of phosphogypsum, and it also provides valuable insights for Guizhou to further advance the practice of intensive exploitation of rich mineral resources. The facility covers an area of about 200,000 square meters; it consumes 1.4 million tons of phosphogypsum per year, producing 600,000 tons of sulfuric acid and 800,000 tons of cement, making it the largest of its kind in the world. At present, the facility has produced two qualified products: sulfuric acid with a concentration of 98% and cement. The sulfuric acid can be used in upstream processes for the production of phosphoric acid, while the cement can be sold or utilized for mine backfilling. This device enables the decomposition of phosphogypsum to produce sulfuric acid while simultaneously manufacturing cement; it can effectively recover resources such as calcium, sulfur, and silicon from the by-product phosphogypsum, thus making full use of it. The first high-pressure, high-flow natural gas compressor was put into operation in April; the world’s first 70 MPa, 200,000 cubic meters per day high-pressure, high-flow natural gas compressor developed by Chongqing Gas Compressor Factory Co., Ltd. was successfully commissioned. This is the skid-mounted booster unit with the highest pressure rating and largest single-unit flow rate both domestically and internationally; it will effectively address challenges such as significant fluctuations in gas volume during transportation and the high requirements for skid-mounted designs. A 70 MPa high-displacement, high-speed compressor is a key device urgently needed for the development of this industry; previously, there was a technical gap in this area both domestically and internationally. High-pressure, high-displacement natural gas compressors can be used in areas such as the construction of large-scale gas storage facilities, oil field injection to enhance oil production, and new energy storage solutions. They have the potential to replace a large number of imported devices in the field of natural gas compression and transportation, offering broad market prospects; the annual market size is estimated to exceed 1 billion yuan. On May 17, the largest single-unit water electrolysis hydrogen production facility in China was put into operation. This facility has a hydrogen production capacity of 3000 Nm3/h, marking an improvement over the previous capacity of 2000 Nm3/h per unit. It holds great significance for China’s efforts to accelerate the development of a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system. This hydrogen production equipment has overcome numerous cutting-edge scientific challenges and key core technologies, such as high power output, high current density, wide load range, and low energy consumption. The operating current density has been increased by 17%, while the weight of the cell has been reduced by 13%. The hydrogen production system boasts a dynamic adjustment capability ranging from 30% to 110%. Its energy consumption meets the national first-class energy efficiency standards. As a result, it can significantly boost the output per unit, as well as reduce production costs and operating expenses. China’s largest single-unit XPO process propane dehydrogenation plant was put into operation in August; Zhenhua Petrochemical Co., Ltd.’s 750,000 tons per year propane dehydrogenation plant started up successfully with a single batch of feed, producing qualified propylene products. This facility is currently the largest propane dehydrogenation plant using the XPO process in China in terms of single-unit scale. The successful commissioning of the unit marks that domestic propane dehydrogenation units for propylene production have reached a new level with a lower hydrogen-to-hydrocarbon ratio. Additionally, the cryogenic tank separation system accompanying the equipment put into operation this time is a domestically developed version created by Hangyang Group; it breaks the foreign technological monopoly and significantly reduces the cost of the equipment as well as the investment requirements for enterprises. World’s largest chemical chain carbon capture equipment tested successfully On September 27, Dongfang Boiler achieved successful testing of a chemical chain carbon capture equipment system for the first time in the world. This technology enables the direct production of carbon dioxide at a concentration of over 90% at the source of combustion, and is expected to reduce costs by two-thirds compared to traditional carbon capture methods, representing a revolutionary innovation in the field of carbon capture technology. This technology will provide new solutions for deep decarbonization in industries around the world such as electricity, heating, petrochemicals, chemicals, and oil and gas. This new carbon capture technology prevents carbon dioxide from hiding among other gases, thereby enabling the capture of high-concentration carbon dioxide at the source of combustion. This experiment achieved the world’s highest fuel heat input of over 5 megawatts, enabling the direct production of carbon dioxide with a concentration of over 90% right at the source of combustion; the carbon dioxide capture efficiency reached over 95%, placing these technical parameters at the global leader level. This technology is now ready for gradual commercialization and large-scale application. On December 19, the first fully domestically produced pyrolysis gas quench cooler was delivered; the first set of fully domestically produced pyrolysis gas quench heat exchangers for Urumqi Petrochemical’s 1.2 million tons per year ethylene project in its Tarim Phase II was shipped. The cracking gas quenching heat exchanger in this project operates under severe conditions, being exposed to high temperatures; therefore, the material of the internal heat exchange tubes must possess high mechanical properties resistant to high-temperature creep. Through independent innovation and technological breakthroughs, the R&D team has successfully achieved full domestic production of this key equipment. This has not only reduced production costs and shortened the delivery cycle, but also enhanced China’s technological influence in this field. The localization of the inner tube materials for the quench reactor in this project is crucial for its manufacturing; the properties of these basic materials have a direct impact on the stable, efficient, and reliable operation of the equipment. A total of 12 quenchers were shipped this time, all made from purely domestic materials, marking the true localization of quenchers in our country. (Note: The top 10 news stories are listed in chronological order) ； Unless otherwise specified, the years and dates in this article refer to 2024. ）