【Frontiers of HaiChuan Technology】Three process packages for UHMWPE, POE, EVA, etc., in Lanzhou Petrochemical’s ethylene renovation project have been successfully developed

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3 process packages for the Lanzhou Petrochemical ethylene renovation project have been successfully developed! Including UHMWPE, POE, EVA. On January 17, 2025, Lanzhou Petrochemical held a ceremony for the handover of the process design packages for the ethylene transformation project aimed at transformation and upgrading. Three sets of process packages based on proprietary technologies were handed over: one for 400,000 tons per year of polypropylene produced through multi-zone polymerization, one for 450,000 tons per year of polyethylene produced by vapor-phase methods, and one for 100,000 tons per year of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. This marked the transition from the Innovation and Technology Center to the project management team in charge of the ethylene transformation, indicating that the main polyolefin-related components of this transformation and upgrading project have moved from the feasibility study stage to the design and implementation phase. The successful development of the 3 process packages is also an important milestone in Lanzhou Petrochemical’s transformation and upgrading project for ethylene modification. Project Overview: The ethylene transformation project for the transformation and upgrading of Lanzhou Petrochemical Company is a renovation and expansion project. It is located in the Xigu Chemical Industry Park in Lanzhou, which was established with the approval of the Gansu Provincial Government, and involves the refining plant area and chemical plant area of Lanzhou Petrochemical in Xigu. The total investment in the project is approximately 23.17 billion yuan. The renovation plan for the project is divided into three parts: 1. Ethylene renovation: By shutting down the existing 240,000 tons/year ethylene plant, removing the cracking, quenching, compression, and propylene units from the existing 460,000 tons/year ethylene plant, and constructing a new 1.2 million tons/year ethylene cracking + quenching + cracked gas compression + propylene production unit along with an 800,000 tons/year cold separation system; meanwhile, the cold separation system of the 460,000 tons/year ethylene plant will be reused, thereby creating an ethylene production system with one input and two outputs. 2. Refining renovation: 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 modifications to three existing units – a 1.2 million tons per year catalytic cracking unit, a 3 million tons per year diesel hydrogenation unit, and another 1.2 million tons per year diesel hydrogenation unit – it is possible to increase the amount of raw material available for ethylene production. At the same time, new PSA units and carbon dioxide recovery units will be built. 3. Downstream chemical industry facilities: 7 new production units will be built (20,000 tons per year of octene-1, 100,000 tons per year of POE, 140,000 tons per year of EVA, 450,000 tons per year of high-density polyethylene, 400,000 tons per year of polypropylene, 700,000 tons per year for the hydrogenation of pyrolysis gasoline, and 700,000 tons per year for aromatic extraction); meanwhile, the existing 170,000 tons per year high-density polyethylene plant will be converted into a plant capable of producing 60,000 tons per year of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. As a result of the implementation of the transformation project to upgrade the ethylene production facilities at Lanzhou Petrochemical Company, the output of refined oil products at this facility will be reduced to 5.3049 million tons per year; the production of gasoline and diesel will decrease by 1.3907 million tons per year, while the output of aviation fuel will remain unchanged. At the same time, the production capacity of new chemical materials will be increased by 2.0092 million tons per year (of which 140,000 tons per year will be for EVA, 100,000 tons per year for POE, 50,000 tons per year for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and 1.035 million tons per year for high-end materials such as metallocene polyethylene and metallocene polypropylene), with the goal of establishing a production base capable of producing millions of tons of such new materials as planned. On June 3, 2024, the feasibility study report for Lanzhou Petrochemical’s transformation and upgrading project involving ethylene production (the million-ton ethylene project) was approved at the meeting of the group company’s Party leadership team. This marked a crucial breakthrough in the advancement of the project, creating the conditions necessary for its full-scale implementation and commencement of construction.