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The new project of Zhongan United Coal Chemicals has been successfully commissioned! Author/Source: Coal Chemical Industry Information Network Date: 2022-11-15 Clicks: 16 On January 13, Zhongan United Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Zhongan United”) produced qualified butene-1 product at 22:00 from its newly built 20,000-ton/year butene-1 plant, marking a successful first commissioning of the plant. Construction of the Butene-1 plant began on October 8, 2021; after 9 months of intensive work, it was completed on June 30, 2022. The first preparatory meeting for commissioning was held on October 8, and the plant was put into operation for testing on November 7. The Butene-1 project is a Sino-Anglo joint production optimization project that utilizes mixed C4 and C5 compounds produced as by-products from MTO units as raw materials to manufacture high-value Butene-1 products, with an annual designed capacity of 20,000 tons. The main raw materials for the production of low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) in Zhongan United’s current facilities are ethylene and butene-1, with a consumption of approximately 30,000 tons of butene-1 required. Since there are no 1-butene manufacturers near Huainan, it is currently obtained through external procurement. Due to the small market size for 1-butene, it is mostly produced and sold internally. Purchased butene-1 not only has unstable prices but also high transportation costs ； Moreover, the supply chain for 1-butene is unstable, which severely affects the steady operation of low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) production plants. To address the supply issue of butene-1 in the existing low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) production plants, Zhongan United Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. has invested in the construction of a 20,000-ton/year C4 isomerization plant for producing butene-1. Utilizing the mixed C4C5 intermediates generated by the existing methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plants as raw materials, this new butene-1 isomerization unit is intended to increase butene-1 production by 20,000 tons per year. The Zhongan United Butene-1 project uses mixed C4 and C5 compounds produced as a by-product of MTO units as raw materials, and employs the isomerization technology developed by SINOPEC Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology to produce 20,000 tons of butene-1 per year. To supply raw materials for downstream polyethylene plants, alleviate the pressure on Zhongan United to purchase butene-1 from external sources, further reduce production costs, and enhance the company’s profitability and growth potential. In addition, Zhongan United is advancing the optimization and renovation project for the C4 plant ； And the preliminary draft of the feasibility study report for the second-phase project has been completed. On May 10, 2022, Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Great Wall Energy Chemical”) held a seminar to discuss the plan for the second phase of the Zhongan United Chemical project via video conference. The meeting heard the company’s report on the work related to the second phase of the chemical project, approved Zhong’an United’s plan to accelerate the preparation of the feasibility study based on the basic plan for the second phase, and provided suggestions on aspects that need to be improved in the preparation of this feasibility study. On August 29, 2022, the first public announcement regarding the public participation in the environmental impact assessment for the optimization and renovation project of the C4 unit at Zhong’an United Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. was made. Construction content and scale: A new 80,000 tons/year OCC unit will be built, which mainly includes a pretreatment unit, a catalytic cracking/reactivation unit, a compression unit, a pre-separation unit, as well as the power distribution room and instrument cabinet rooms required for this unit. The utility systems and auxiliary facilities will make use of the existing facilities within the plant. At the same time, the 10C℃ plant will undergo a technological upgrade using second-generation catalysts (the main equipment will not be modified; only the operating parameters will be changed, while the process flow remains unchanged). Concurrently, the facilities necessary for exporting propylene, ethylene, butene-1, and heavy olefins will be built and improved.