Progress on the construction of Sinopec Zhijin’s 500,000 tons/year PGA (polyglycolic acid) production facility

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Progress on the Construction of Sinopec’s 500,000 tons/year PGA (Polyglycolic Acid) Plant in Zijin. Author/Source: Huahua Net Coal Chemicals. Date: March 20, 2022. Clicks: 26. Recently, the first phase of Sinopec’s 500,000 tons/year PGA plant in Zijin, with a total investment of around 23 billion yuan, covers an area of 6,600 mu. All five construction phases are currently in full swing, and it is expected that all land preparation work will be completed within this year. According to the contractor’s estimates, the construction of this project involves 13 million cubic meters of earthwork excavation and 12 million cubic meters of earthwork filling. To ensure the smooth progress of the PGA project, Zhijin County has mobilized all available resources to provide necessary support. The Sinopec Avenue and East Avenue, which ensure transportation, have been completed and opened to traffic, while the West Avenue and water supply project also started construction ahead of schedule. The civil works for the water plant have been essentially completed, and it will be able to meet the industrial and domestic water needs of the entire PGA project by August. Phase 1 of the PGA project is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2024, with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of polyglycolic acid; this will require 1.5 million tons of raw coal and fuel coal. To ensure a sufficient energy supply, seven pairs of coal mines were established locally. At present, Phase 1 of Feitian Coal Mine has been completed and put into operation. Recently, the preliminary engineering geological survey for the plant area of the first phase of Sinopec’s 500,000 tons per year PGA (polyglycolic acid) project in Zhijin was launched. To understand the geotechnical conditions in the area in front of the factory and to ensure the safe and efficient completion of the preliminary geological survey, the project management department, together with personnel from relevant departments, organized everything carefully and planned ahead. From safety training for the workers, review of construction plans, and approval procedures for equipment, to land coordination, fieldwork, and safety and quality management, every aspect of the survey process was closely monitored, and detailed measures were put in place to ensure that the geotechnical survey tasks in this area are completed to a high standard. It is reported that this exploration covers areas such as the proposed control room, office building, and laboratory analysis center within the site of the PGA project. Through activities including drilling, borehole photography, and core testing, a survey report will be prepared to provide a basis for the design of the foundations for future buildings. Sinopec Guizhou Energy Chemical Company was established jointly by Great Wall Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. (with a 99% stake) and Bijie Zhijin New Area Biyun Construction Investment and Development Co., Ltd. (with a 1% stake). The 500,000 tons per year polyglycolic acid (PGA) production project is a key project under Guizhou Province’s 14th Five-Year Development Plan, as well as a model project for Sinopec in advancing cutting-edge coal chemical technologies toward industrial application. It is located in the new energy and chemical industry base in Zhijin County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province. The total investment for the project is approximately 23 billion yuan, of which the investment for the first phase is about 11 billion yuan, with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of polyglycolic acid; the second phase is planned to have an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons. In accordance with the Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement on Comprehensively Promoting High-Quality Development signed between Sinopec and Guizhou Province, the feasibility study report for the first phase of Guizhou’s 500,000 tons per year polyglycolic acid (PGA) production project was approved by the group company on June 21, 2021, enabling the rapid progress of the project’s construction. The main equipment of the project includes a gasification unit, a deep cryogenic separation and hydrogen production unit, a coupling unit, a PGA unit, and supporting facilities. The main product is PGA, with by-products including sulfur, polyols, dimethyl carbonate, etc. The project is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2024, with annual sales revenue of around 3.2 billion yuan and annual profits of around 8.5 billion yuan. Sinopec Shanghai Engineering serves as the overall project institute.