Commissioning of the air separation unit in the gasification section of Zhong’an United Coal Chemical’s 1.7 million tons per year methanol and converted olefins project

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Commissioning of the Air Separation Unit in the Gasification Section of Zhong’an United Coal Chemical’s 1.7 million tons/year methanol and converted olefins project / Author/Source: Huahua Network – Coal Chemical Industry / Date: 14-01-2019 / Views: 14 At the beginning of the new year, the air separation unit in the gasification section of Zhong’an United Coal Chemical Co., Ltd.’s project for producing 1.7 million tons/year of methanol and converted olefins achieved a successful start to the new year – the No. 1 air separation steam turbine was started up successfully on the first attempt! An important milestone in the commissioning phase of the air separation unit has been achieved. On the afternoon of January 2, preparations for the turbine spin-up test were initiated, and at 17:50 the unit began to be heated up. After 4 hours of heating up and warming the pipes, the temperature at the measurement point reached 430°C at 21:58, meeting the conditions for startup. At the command given by the head of the testing team, the unit entered the startup procedure, and at 22:06 the turbine’s speed reached the target value of 4750 rpm. All testing tasks for the steam turbine unit were completed at 22:55. It is reported that the turbine is a key component of air separation units; it is responsible for providing power to equipment such as air compressors, and it constitutes the fundamental guarantee for generating compressed air in these units. The successful startup this time is a milestone in terms of the ability of the air separation units to produce high-quality oxygen and nitrogen, and it lays a solid foundation for ensuring the successful commissioning of these units. The Zhongan United air separation unit was constructed under EPC general contracting by Sinopec Nanjing Engineering Company. It consists of 3 sets of air separation units with a capacity of 70,000 standard cubic meters per hour each; each set includes a compressor section, a pre-treatment section, a cryogenic box, and associated pipeline corridors. On November 28, Unit 3 of the air separation plant for the Zhong’an Coal Chemical project completed its construction tasks and was successfully handed over. Prior to this, Units 1# and 2# air separation plants were completed at the end of September and the end of October respectively. With this, the air separation unit has been fully constructed, marking its entry into the phase of joint commissioning and trial operation with feedstock. The 1.7 million tons per year coal-to-methanol and converted olefins project of Zhongan United Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. is a key construction project of Sinopec and Anhui Province. The core process of the project utilizes S-MTO patented technology owned by Sinopec, while the gasification unit employs SE-Oriental furnace technology also owned by Sinopec. Using coal from the Zhujixi mine as raw material, methanol and converted olefins (LDPE/PP), ethylene glycol (MEG) and other products are produced. Sinopec Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. is responsible for the overall management of the design, procurement, and construction of the MTO/OCC and PP units in this project, as well as six supporting facilities including the control room and 110 kV substation ； Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Co., Ltd. is responsible for the design and construction of the gasification unit for the contracted project ； Design and construction of air separation units, purification units, and circulating water systems for Sinopec’s Nanjing engineering contracting project. As a base for the automobile and home appliance industries, Anhui has a large market demand for raw materials for olefin-based chemical products ； In the future, Zhongan United Chemical Products will effectively fill the demand gap for chemical raw materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene in surrounding markets.