Background of the petrochemical industry

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The petrochemical industry, which primarily involves the refining of oil to produce gasoline, kerosene, diesel, heavy oil, and natural gas, is a major supplier of the current primary energy sources. In 1995, our country produced 80 million tons of fuel oil. Currently, oil and gas consumption worldwide accounts for about 60% of total energy consumption ； Due to its high coal consumption, our country’s oil consumption is less than 20%. The energy provided by the petrochemical industry is mainly used as fuel for cars, tractors, airplanes, ships, and boilers, with a small amount being used as fuel for domestic purposes. Energy is a factor that restricts the development of China’s national economy; the petrochemical industry accounts for approximately 8.5% of the total energy consumption, and it is necessary to continuously reduce energy use. 2. The petrochemical industry is one of the pillars of the materials industry. Metals, inorganic non-metallic materials, and polymer synthetic materials are known as the three major types of materials. The current global production of polymer synthetic materials produced by the petrochemical industry is approximately 145 million tons. In 1996, China’s production already exceeded 8 million tons. In addition to synthetic materials, the petrochemical industry also provides the vast majority of organic chemical raw materials. Within the realm of the chemical industry, aside from the chemical products derived from mineral sources, the raw materials produced by the petrochemical industry play a crucial role in various sectors. 3. The petrochemical industry has promoted the development of agriculture. Agriculture is a fundamental industry in China’s national economy. Nitrogen fertilizers produced by the petrochemical industry account for 80% of the total amount of chemical fertilizers. The widespread use of agricultural plastic films, along with the rational application of pesticides and the various fuels required by heavy agricultural machinery, constitute the main force through which the petrochemical industry supports agriculture. 4. All industrial sectors rely on petrochemical products. The development of the modern transportation industry is closely tied to fuel supply; it is no exaggeration to say that without fuel, there would be no modern transportation industry. Metal processing, as well as all types of machinery, invariably requires various lubricants and other related materials, consuming a large amount of petrochemical products. The global production of lubricants amounts to about 20 million tons, while in China it is around 1.8 million tons. The building materials industry is a new field for petrochemical products; materials such as plastic components, doors and windows, flooring materials, and coatings are known as chemical building materials. The light industry and textile industry are traditional users of petrochemical products, and the development and promotion of new materials, new processes, and new products all involve petrochemical products. Currently, the rapidly developing electronics industry and various high-tech industries have placed new demands on petrochemical products, especially the fine chemical products manufactured using petrochemicals as raw materials, which serves as a significant boost to the development of the petrochemical industry. 5. The construction and development of the petrochemical industry rely on the support of various sectors. Petrochemical companies, both domestically and internationally, concentrate on building a number of production facilities to form large-scale petrochemical industrial zones. Within the zone, the refining units serve as the core, providing cracking feedstocks such as light oil and diesel to the petrochemical units, while also producing petrochemical products ； The cracking unit produces basic petrochemical raw materials such as ethylene, propylene, benzene, and xylene ； According to demand, a series of production facilities are built using the aforementioned raw materials as the main inputs to manufacture synthetic materials and organic raw materials, with a certain proportional relationship between their products and raw materials. To produce 300,000 tons of ethylene per year, rough calculations show that approximately 1.2 million tons of feedstock are needed for cracking. This corresponds to a refining capacity of around 2.5 million tons, enabling the production of 800,000 to 900,000 tons of synthetic materials and basic organic raw materials. It is evident that establishing a petrochemical industrial zone requires substantial investment. The site selection for the plants must be appropriate, ensuring not only the convenient transportation of raw materials and products but also adequate supply of electricity, water, and other necessary infrastructure. Each production unit requires a large number of standard, qualitative machinery, equipment, instruments, pipelines, and non-standard specialized equipment. The manufacturing of mechanical equipment involves a wide variety of materials with different requirements; some key pieces of equipment operate at speeds exceeding 50 meters per second, and each unit weighs several hundred tons ； Some require heat resistance up to 1000°C, while others require cold resistance down to -150°C. Some key equipment needs to be purchased from the international market. All of these require support from industries such as metallurgy, electricity, machinery, instrumentation, construction, and environmental protection. The petrochemical industry is a technology-intensive industry. The determination of production methods and processes, as well as a range of technologies such as the selection and manufacturing of key equipment, all require to be governed by proprietary or unique technical standards; if these technologies are imported from abroad, fees for patents or know-how must be paid. Therefore, only by strengthening research in basic disciplines, especially organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, catalysis, chemical engineering, computers, and automation, by improving the training of professionals in these fields so that they can master and apply advanced research results, and by combining this with relevant engineering technologies, can the petrochemical industry continue to develop and reach new levels.