【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】The localization rate of the key equipment for the Tianjin Nangang ethylene project from 2016 to 2024 reached 97%
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Give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Great Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】Regular updates and summaries are available – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Engineering Forum) ***************** The domestic production rate for the key equipment used in Tianjin Nangang Ethylene Project has reached 97%. Relying on this project, Tianjin Petrochemical is making significant efforts to promote the use of domestically produced equipment. Among them, as the \"key\" facility, the localization rate of the 1.2 million tons per year ethylene plant has reached 97%. In addition to the \"three-unit system,\" known as the \"heart\" of ethylene plants, being fully domestically produced, many major pieces of equipment were also developed and introduced for the first time in China during the project construction process. China’s first 200,000 tons/year single-chamber pyrolyzer for liquid feedstocks fills a technical gap in the field of ultra-large-scale pyrolyzers in the country; the pyrolyzer is a core unit in ethylene production facilities. To meet the needs of expanding the ethylene plant scale, the capacity of each cracking furnace also needs to be increased accordingly. Until now, the 200,000 tons per year pyrolysis furnaces used in domestic projects have been based on foreign technology, and most of them are double-chambered. Tianjin Petrochemical utilized Sinopec’s own technology to develop, design, and construct a 200,000-ton/year single-chamber pyrolyzer for liquid feedstocks in the Tianjin Nangang ethylene project. This approach not only reduced investment costs and facilitated control and management but also improved China’s pyrolysis technology level, filling the gap in domestic technology for ultra-large-scale pyrolyzers.
The world’s largest 60-inch large-diameter pyrolysis gas valve represents a significant breakthrough in terms of the technical performance and specifications of such valves. To build a pyrolyzer with a capacity of 200,000 tons per year using liquid feedstocks, a 60-inch large-diameter pyrolysis gas valve is necessary. Previously, the largest diameter of pyrolysis gas valves manufactured in China was 48 inches, while the largest diameter in the world was 56 inches; no pyrolysis gas valves with a diameter of 60 inches have been manufactured either domestically or internationally. Tianjin Petrochemical, in collaboration with relevant organizations, spent over 8 months working on this project and completed the design, manufacturing, and testing of 60-inch cracking gas valves, achieving significant breakthroughs in the technical performance parameters and specifications for such valves in China. Currently, this large-scale pyrolysis gas valve has passed the evaluation and been included in the third batch of **the list of major technical equipment (projects) of first kind in the energy sector.
The fully automatic large-bag packaging machine represents a breakthrough in terms of domestic design and manufacturing of such machines – for the first time, such machines have been developed in China. At present, the packaging of polyolefin products in the petrochemical industry is mainly done in 25-kilogram packages, using automatic packaging machines. As the number of downstream users increases, there is a growing demand for larger packaging sizes, and flexible bulk bag packaging (large bag packaging) has become the preferred choice for more users. To meet the packaging requirements for polyolefin products, the Tianjin Nangang Ethylene Project is equipped with a fully automatic large-bag packaging machine. This machine uses shared pallets and cold-stretch film, with the shared pallets being sent out along with the goods. It features functions such as automatic coding, re-inspection, and abnormal condition shutdown. The packaging accuracy meets relevant industry standards, which helps to shorten the procurement cycle; this represents a breakthrough in terms of the design and manufacture of fully automatic large-bag packaging machines in China.
The polyethylene slurry transfer pump using the slurry method is capable of transporting materials in three phases: gas, liquid, and solid. The 100,000-ton/year ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene production facility at the Tianjin Nangang ethylene project is the first such facility in China to possess independent intellectual property rights. The slurry pump in the process flow operates under very harsh conditions; it is required to transport mixtures of gas, liquid, and solid phases, with a solid content of nearly 40% by weight. The successful development of the slurry pump has resolved the key technical challenges associated with such pumps, filled a gap in this field in China, enabled the localization of core processing equipment, reduced procurement costs, and significantly shortened the procurement timeline.
The POE plant’s extrusion granulation units ensure the industrialization of the proprietary process package. The 100,000-ton/year POE plant at the Tianjin Nangang ethylene project was built using Sinopec’s proprietary process package; it features two production lines, each with a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, and each line is equipped with one extrusion granulation unit. The extrusion granulation unit requires high process stability, operates under narrow conditions, has a large number of primary and auxiliary machines, and features a complex component structure; previously, there were no mature products available in China. By focusing on the localization of extrusion granulators, Tianjin Petrochemical overcame the bottleneck issue related to equipment supply, significantly reducing the cost of equipment procurement while ensuring timely delivery. China’s first domestically produced large-scale ethylene SIS system ensures that the production process remains in a safe state. An SIS (Safety Instrumented System) is an independent safety protection system designed to reduce process risks; until now, SIS systems for major projects such as those involving ethylene have mainly been imported. In close cooperation with units such as Tianjin Petrochemical and Engineering Construction Company, relevant standards for the domestic production of SIS systems were developed for large-scale ethylene projects, enabling the first large-scale domestic use of SIS systems in ultra-large ethylene plants with production capacities of millions of tons. This has further increased the proportion of domestically produced equipment used in large-scale process industries and reduced investment costs, providing strong support for the domestic production and widespread adoption of SIS systems in key industries.
The ultra-high pressure steam vent valve for ethylene cracking furnaces meets extremely stringent requirements in terms of pressure reduction, noise reduction, and sealing performance. The ultra-high pressure steam vent valve is a key component in ethylene cracking furnaces. Relying on the 1.2 million tons per year ethylene plant in Nangang, Tianjin Petrochemical, in close collaboration with engineering companies and manufacturers, has achieved a major breakthrough by applying domestically produced pilot-type ultra-high pressure steam control vent valves to ethylene cracker furnaces. Through technological innovation, the ultra-high pressure steam vent valve meets extremely stringent requirements in terms of pressure reduction, noise reduction, and sealing performance. Compared with imported ultra-high pressure steam vent valves, it can reduce investment costs by 40% to 50% and shorten the production cycle by 50%.
Built-in welded plate heat exchangers – improving the heat transfer efficiency of heat exchangers. In the process package for the 500,000 tons per year high-density polyethylene plant at the Tianjin Nangang Ethylene Project, the condenser in the intermediate treatment scrubber is specified to be a built-in plate heat exchanger at the top of the tower. The condenser in the scrubber tower is a critical piece of equipment; its reliability and heat exchange efficiency both affect the stable operation of the plant. Imported built-in welded plate heat exchangers suffer from long delivery times and high prices; after conducting specialized discussions, Tianjin Petrochemical decided to focus on developing domestic alternatives. The successful development of the built-in welded plate heat exchanger has improved the heat transfer efficiency of the heat exchanger. It also elevates the material quality of the heat exchanger equipment by two grades, making it more suitable for use with desalinated water as circulating cooling water under the conditions specified in the process package, thereby significantly enhancing the reliability of the equipment.
The largest domestically produced three-stage axial flow check valve for ethylene – this oversized valve enables collision-free closing. As the scale of ethylene production facilities continues to increase, the pumping capacity of compressors also rises, which in turn leads to larger diameters for the pipes and valves connected to the compressor inlet and outlet. As required, Tianjin Petrochemical installed a DN2000 axial flow check valve at the inlet of the propylene compressor in its 1.2 million tons per year ethylene plant in Nangang. Previously, axial flow check valves for compressors in large ethylene plants had to be imported, as the largest diameter of axial flow check valves manufactured domestically was DN1800. The million-ton-class ethylene three-machine axial flow check valve developed in this production is currently the largest domestically produced axial flow check valve used in ethylene plants worldwide. It breaks the monopoly held by foreign counterparts, enables collision-free closure of ultra-large-diameter axial flow check valves, simplifies operation and maintenance, costs only 2/3 of those of foreign products, and reduces the production cycle by half.
Super ferritic stainless steel heat exchangers – improving the quality of equipment manufacturing as well as its safety and reliability. The cooling water used in the Tianjin Nangang ethylene project is desalinated water; the chloride concentration in the circulating water is relatively high, and salt-containing wastewater must undergo treatment to ensure near-zero discharge. Following traditional material selection practices, some of the key water coolers and evaporators in such projects need to be manufactured from high-grade stainless steel, nickel-based alloys, or titanium, which results in poor reliability and economic efficiency over long periods of operation. After thorough research and evaluation, Tianjin Petrochemical selected domestically produced super ferritic stainless steel heat exchange tubes. It brought together domestic engineering companies, stainless steel manufacturers, steel tube producers, and heat exchanger manufacturers to work on technical solutions, and successfully achieved the localization of such heat exchange tubes and heat exchangers. The project utilized 15 such stainless steel heat exchangers, which reduced the risk of equipment corrosion and costs, and enabled the demonstration application of new domestic stainless steel grades in petrochemical industry projects.