The pre-feasibility study report for Lanzhou Petrochemical’s 1.2 million tons/year ethylene upgrade project has been approved by the group company

Regarding the ethylene project at Lanzhou Petrochemical, on December 12, 2023, the website of the Lanzhou Ecology and Environment Bureau published a notice regarding the acceptance of the environmental impact assessment for Lanzhou Petrochemical’s project to upgrade and transform its ethylene production facilities (the portion of this project that was put into use in advance by Zhonglu Investment). Lanzhou Petrochemical Company’s transformation and upgrading project for the ethylene plant has been upgraded to an expansion project. The construction site is located in the Xigu Chemical Industry Park in Lanzhou, which was established with provincial approval, and it involves both the Xigu oil refining complex and the chemical manufacturing complex of Lanzhou Petrochemical. The renovation plan for this project can be divided into three parts: 1) Ethylene renovation: Build a new ethylene cracking unit with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year and a new quenching unit with the same capacity; build a new post-separation unit for ethylene with a capacity of 800,000 tons per year; shut down the existing ethylene cracking + quenching unit with a capacity of 460,000 tons per year; and reuse the existing post-separation unit for ethylene with a capacity of 460,000 tons per year, resulting in a configuration with one unit at each end and another in the middle. The 240,000 tons per year small ethylene plant was shut down, leaving a total ethylene production capacity of 1.2 million tons per year. 2) Refining upgrade: After the implementation of this project, the types of crude oil processed and the processing volume in the refining system will remain unchanged. By carrying out adaptive upgrades to three existing units—namely, a 1.2 million tons/year catalytic cracking unit, a 3 million tons/year diesel hydrogenation unit, and another 1.2 million tons/year diesel hydrogenation unit—it is possible to increase the amount of raw material available for ethylene production. At the same time, a new PSA unit and a C2 recovery unit will be constructed. 3) Downstream chemical industry support: Construct 7 new production units (20,000 tons/year of 1-octene, 100,000 tons/year of POE, 140,000 tons/year of EVA, 450,000 tons/year of FDPE, 400,000 tons/year of polypropylene, 700,000 tons/year of hydrogenation unit for pyrolysis gasoline, and 700,000 tons/year of aromatic extraction unit); convert the existing 170,000 tons/year high-density polyethylene unit into a 60,000 tons/year ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene unit. Through the implementation of the transformation and upgrading project for ethylene production, Lanzhou Petrochemical’s output of refined oil products will be reduced to 5.3049 million tons per year, while the total amount of fuel oil produced will decrease by 1.2681 million tons per year (with diesel production dropping by 1.5865 million tons per year, gasoline production increasing by 150,900 tons per year, and kerosene production increasing by 167,500 tons per year) ； Chemical products increased by 1.4 million tons; among these, 290,000 tons were of new high-end polyolefin products such as POE, UHMWPE, and EVA, 375,600 tons were of high-end polypropylene products, 200,000 tons were of high-density polyethylene products, and 175,400 tons were of low-density polyethylene products. In total, this amounts to 1.04 million tons. As planned, the construction of a production base for \"million-ton scale new materials\" will be carried out.

Since the ethylene transformation project for transformation and upgrading is carried out within Lanzhou Petrochemical Company’s existing plant area, which includes the ethylene plant/fertilizer plant in the chemical zone, the petrochemical plant/rubber plant in the chemical zone, and the refining zone, there are many new facilities to be constructed as part of this project. On some of the land designated for these projects, existing production facilities are already present; therefore, these existing facilities must be demolished and replaced in order to meet the land requirements for the project’s construction. Moreover, such demolition and replacement must take place before the new installations or facilities are put into use. Given the long construction period of this ethylene transformation project, it is necessary to keep the existing installations operating normally during this time, and the utility services and supporting facilities required for their operation must also continue to be supplied. In order to meet the overall schedule of the project and to minimize the impact of construction on the operation of the existing installations, it is necessary to construct certain utility services and supporting facilities in advance, in accordance with the project’s overall layout plan and construction scheme. To this end, the implementation of Lanzhou Petrochemical Company’s project for upgrading and transforming its ethylene production facilities is divided into three phases: “Ethylene Transformation – Main Project”, “Ethylene Transformation – Early Commissioning Project I”, and “Ethylene Transformation – Early Commissioning Project II”. 1) The “Ethylene Transformation – Main Project” is to be funded and constructed by Lanzhou Petrochemical Company; the total investment for this project is approximately 21.867 billion yuan, of which 722 million yuan is allocated to environmental protection measures, accounting for about 3.3% of the total investment. Lanzhou Petrochemical Company has commissioned Lanzhou University to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment report for this upgrade project, and the preparation of this report is currently in progress ； 2) Ethylene renovation – Phase I of the early-commissioning project, funded and constructed by China National Petroleum Corporation’s Lanzhou Petrochemical Company. It constitutes the utility infrastructure supporting the main ethylene renovation works, including equipment for treating waste alkali from ethylene production, a 110 kV substation for fertilizer production, Fire Pump Station No. 1 in the chemical industry zone, interconnection ducts, pipe connections, underground piping systems, the East Tank Area, the renovation of Tank Area No. 2 in the petrochemical plant, and projects to address soil and groundwater pollution resulting from the replacement of old facilities with new ones. Lanzhou Petrochemical Company commissioned Lanzhou University to prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for this ethylene renovation project aimed at transformation and upgrading (early-commissioning phase). The Lanzhou Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau approved this environmental impact assessment report on October 23, 2023. 3) Ethylene renovation – Project II for early commissioning, invested and constructed by the Xigu Chemical Branch of Lanzhou Zhonglu Chemical Group Co., Ltd.; it is a supporting facility associated with the main ethylene renovation project, including the renovation of units such as the air separation and air compression station, the ethylene circulating water plant, the 205 circulating water plant, the polymerization circulating water plant, and the demineralized water station.

I fought there 20 years ago, and now the installations are being removed.

Its historical mission has been fulfilled; there are many firsts of their kind across the country in this place

This place was supposed to be demolished and relocated 20 years ago, as it was too close to the city center. As a result, it was demolished and a larger one was built in its place. Of course, environmental protection technologies have been upgraded now.

【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】Successful commissioning of the large labyrinth compressor for the first 500,000 tons/year PP plant, 2014–2024 https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-5507778-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)

But judging from the current approvals, the complete relocation of Lanhua is nothing but a fantasy now. Lanzhou City has been calling for the complete relocation of Lanhua for over a decade; it’s likely that they will stop making such calls in the future. Initially, there were plans to relocate Lanhua to the new area, but obstacles related to water, the environment, and logistics got in the way. With today’s production technologies, the environmental impact is much reduced, so it’s possible that the facility can remain in Xigu District. In the past, the top leaders of Lanhua would hold important positions in Lanzhou City or Gansu Province; it’s not clear whether this practice still exists today.

The sites in the new area have all been prepared with access to water, electricity, roads, telecommunications, and sewage services, as well as public utility ducts and tunnels; however, the terms regarding compensation for land use were not agreed upon – after all, companies are expected to pay a fee when they relocate and give up their land.