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Chuanwei Chemical optimizes plant operations to achieve a new breakthrough in liquid ammonia production Capacity. Author/Source: Date: 2022-12-02 Clicks: 19 Faced with a severe and complex market situation, Chuanwei Chemical incorporated the principles of refined management into the entire production process, addressed bottlenecks effectively, strictly controlled equipment operation, and focused on meticulous management in order to optimize plant operations and achieve a new increase in production capacity. As of November, the company’s liquid ammonia production increased by 6% on a year-on-year basis, reaching a record high in over 10 years. Liquid ammonia is an excellent solvent, widely used in industries, agriculture, medicine, national defense, and other fields closely related to people’s livelihood. Chuanwei Chemical Company adheres to a strategy of green development and innovation-driven growth; it recycles the nitrogen and hydrogen produced as by-products from its main production units to manufacture liquid ammonia of high purity, and the quality of its products has been recognized by customers. Overcoming bottlenecks to improve equipment efficiency: In recent years, Chuanwei Chemical Company has pursued a development strategy that combines \"chemicals + materials\" and \"basic technologies + high-end technologies.\" It regards technological innovation as a means to generate economic benefits for the company. Focusing on the challenge of ensuring full-capacity operation of the ammonia synthesis plants, and taking into account the operating conditions of these plants, the company established four task forces within the Methanol Production Department – one to address equipment bottlenecks, another to improve the yield through pressure swing adsorption, a third to optimize the hydrogen-to-nitrogen ratio, and a fourth to coordinate external hydrogen supply. These task forces work together to carry out targeted projects to overcome these challenges. “To overcome the bottleneck in increasing the ammonia synthesis capacity, it is first necessary to identify where the bottleneck lies and determine its root causes. Next, our task is to examine each factor that affects full-capacity operation in order to pinpoint the problems and take appropriate actions to address them. ”He Meigang, deputy manager of the company’s methanol operation department, said this at the meeting focused on advancing technologies for increasing ammonia synthesis capacity. Each task force compared the set goals with the actual operating conditions of the plant, carefully analyzed and collected operational data for comparison and evaluation, and checked each aspect in detail. Eventually, the problem was identified as insufficient output from the synthesis compressor. Taking advantage of a period of downtime in the ammonia synthesis plant, the issue was repaired, ensuring that the units met the operating requirements during production. To ensure the stable operation of equipment through standardization and regulation, and to guarantee the safe operation of the ammonia synthesis plant, the Methanol Operations Department emphasizes a management approach focused on equipment integrity. It carries out regular maintenance tasks and preventive repairs on a systematic basis, strengthens the monitoring and analysis of equipment performance, and conducts routine inspections at specified locations, in accordance with set standards and intervals, in order to keep track of the equipment’s operating conditions in real time. Condition monitoring is implemented for large-scale units and key pumps, and a dry gas seal condition monitoring system is used for the first time to accurately identify the location and cause of equipment defects in advance, enabling targeted preventive maintenance. This ensures that equipment reliability remains intact even under high-load operations; no repairs were required for the plant’s moving equipment in 2022. Guided by KPIs and utilizing relevant metrics to improve the quality and efficiency of equipment, and based on specialized equipment inspections, maintenance personnel and operators are directed to pay attention to areas that are easily overlooked, such as valve maintenance, inspection of small connections, and minor hydrogen leaks, with these issues being addressed one by one in each section. Standardized management processes are established to address the weak points in reliability management, and these processes are pursued consistently to continuously improve the level of preventive maintenance for equipment, thereby ensuring smooth operations under high-load production conditions. Implement meticulous management in every detail of production – \"Every detail is crucial; changes in the composition of the hydrogen feedstock, high levels of carbon monoxide, and proper control of adsorption time can all have a direct impact on the production capacity and quality of the product.\" ” The methanol operation department promotes improvements in work quality through meticulous management. Technical personnel collect data on ammonia synthesis using the production management system, conduct comprehensive analysis and comparison of various data changes, and determine the optimal parameter values based on the actual operating conditions, thereby formulating plans to increase production capacity. Guiding team members in optimizing parameter control based on the production of \"key indicators\", refining control points, and sorting out the key process parameters for each stage of ammonia synthesis while quantifying the ranges for these process control parameters. At the same time, employee responsibility for their duties was strengthened, and the quality of routine inspections of the equipment was improved. Comprehensive hazard-survey activities such as the \"Woodpecker Campaign\" and the \"Find the Errors\" competition were carried out in depth, enabling the timely identification and resolution of over 200 various safety hazards, thus ensuring the stable and continuous operation of the ammonia synthesis plant. Chuanwei Chemical Company applies refined management to every aspect and stage of production, continuously strengthening basic management to improve work efficiency. By November, the capacity of the company’s ammonia synthesis plants, as well as the stability and efficiency of their operations, had continued to improve. Revenue and profits generated from liquid ammonia sales increased significantly on a year-on-year basis, laying a solid foundation for the company’s transformation toward high-quality development.