Latest progress on the coal-to-olefins project under construction at Ningxia Baofeng Energy

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Latest Progress on the Coal-to-Olefins Project at Ningxia Baofeng Energy – Author/Source: Huahua Network, Coal Chemicals Industry; Date: 2019-08-22; Clicks: 96. On August 20, the isothermal shift reactor (1131R101), which is a key piece of equipment in the methanol production unit of Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co., Ltd.’s project to produce 600,000 tons of olefins per year through coke gasification – a project undertaken by China National Sixth Engineering Construction Corporation – was installed in three stages using a disassembly method. It is reported that the core equipment of the purification unit being lifted this time, namely the isothermal conversion furnace, has a diameter of 4.2 meters, a height of 19.8 meters, and a net weight of 240 tons. A 650-ton crawler crane is used as the main hoist, with a 350-ton crawler crane serving as the auxiliary hoist. This lifting operation is not only difficult but also extremely troublesome: firstly, the site is narrow, and the lifting process requires passing over utility ducts ； Secondly, the installed isothermal converter furnace is located within the 43-meter-high Converter No. 1 frame, with an operating radius of 25 meters. Due to the delayed arrival of the equipment, and in order not to affect the installation of the steel structure and pipelines in the utility tunnel as well as the progress of electrical cable laying, after numerous discussions and evaluations, it was decided not to reserve a space for the steel structure of the utility tunnel. Instead, the converter was to be disassembled into three parts – the shell, the core, and the end caps – which were then lifted and transported in three separate shipments. Although the method of disassembling and lifting the transformation furnace in separate parts caused significant difficulties for the installation of the purification equipment and for the technical staff, and also had an impact on the construction schedule, the construction of this section of the pipeline tunnel was completed at least two months ahead of schedule. The process optimization involves changing the gasification unit from 30 fixed-bed gasifiers to 6 fluidized-bed gasifiers ； The air separation unit has been changed from 3 sets of 80,000 Nm3/h to 2 sets of 105,000 Nm3/h ； Cancel the cryogenic separation unit ； The low-temperature methanol washing unit, refrigeration station unit, sulfur recovery unit, and methanol synthesis and compression unit have all been changed from 2 sets to 1 set ； The power station was changed from 4 boilers of 500 t/h to 3 boilers of 420 t/h. After optimization, the total number of main equipment units decreased from 1,965 to 1,588, and the land area reduced from 216.4 hectares to 129.2 hectares, resulting in savings of 585,073 million yuan in investment. A 2.2 million tons/year coke gasification methanol production plant, a 600,000 tons/year methanol to olefins plant, a 300,000 tons/year polyethylene plant, a 300,000 tons/year polypropylene plant, along with supporting utility systems and auxiliary facilities. The total investment for the project is 1,527,887 million yuan, of which 1,429,736 million yuan is allocated to construction costs, 11,983 million yuan to working capital for the initial phase, and 86,168 million yuan to interest during the construction period.