Class A safety with continuous operation for 266 days! Baling Petrochemical’s gasification unit sets a consecutive operation record

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As of November 26, Sinopec Baling Petrochemical’s Shell powder coal gasification unit has achieved 266 days of continuous safe operation at Class A level, breaking the previous world record set by similar units in China, which was 264 days of continuous operation. The operation cycle is a criterion for measuring the operational performance of gasification units. Grade A continuous operation refers to the gasifier running continuously without any interruptions, while Grade B continuous operation means that the unit resumes operation within 24 hours after being shut down. The gasification unit at Baling Petrochemical began construction in October 2003 and was completed and put into operation by the end of December 2006. It was the first in China to adopt Shell’s Dutch powder coal gasification technology to convert raw coal into syngas. The unit was also modified to use coal as a substitute for oil as a feedstock, thereby providing raw materials for downstream refining units. Since the commissioning of the gasification unit, and in the absence of a backup furnace, Baling Petrochemical has continued to carry out optimizations and improvements, overcoming a series of bottlenecks that affected the unit’s stable, efficient, and continuous operation. The company has filed more than 10 patents, of which 5 have been granted. By establishing standards for the procurement of raw coal and quality control of coal fed into the furnace, as well as by optimizing the operation of the gasification furnace, the company has addressed various industry-related challenges such as issues related to the suitability of raw coal, ash blockage at the inlet of the waste heat boiler, slag blockage at the outlet of the gasification furnace, wear on the elbows in the synthesis gas pipelines, and damage to the bottom cone of the gasification furnace. As a result, the operating cycle of the facility has increased from less than 1 month initially to over 200 days, enabling continuous and safe operation on a regular basis. In 2020, they overcame two major industry challenges: the falling of the blades in the slag crusher and the downward movement of the \"hot zone\" in the gasification furnace. The unit operated for a total of 350 days that year, setting a new record for the maximum number of days a single Shell powder gasification furnace can operate in a year. Since the gasification unit at Baling Petrochemical resumed operation following its maintenance in March this year and entered a new cycle of operation, through the implementation of a more precise limestone addition ratio, higher-quality and reliable equipment maintenance, and more sophisticated operational practices, the operating conditions of the gasifier have reached their best level in the 17 years since its commissioning.