Thread Content
Recently, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation officially released the list of benchmark enterprises that excel in water efficiency for key products in the petroleum and chemical industry for 2024. Sinopec Ningxia Energy Chemical Company once again received the title of benchmark enterprise for water efficiency, achieving this honor for four consecutive years – a testament to its ongoing leadership in green development and the efficient use of water resources. As a modern coal chemical enterprise located along the Yellow River, Ningxia Energy Chemicals has always upheld the philosophy that \"lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.\" It makes every effort to promote the efficient and sustainable use of water resources, thereby contributing to the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin. By overcoming technical challenges, Ningxia Energy Chemical Company has a facility that represents the first comprehensive zero-discharge project for wastewater in Sinopec’s coal chemical sector – a high-salinity water treatment unit. Utilizing process technologies with independent domestic intellectual property rights, this unit is capable of treating and reusing over 3 million tons of high-concentration saline water each year. This enables the full reuse of both production wastewater and domestic sewage, while significantly reducing the costs associated with wastewater treatment. “In recent years, we have been continuously working to advance the technological upgrades of our equipment. The high-salinity water treatment system put into use this year, with its efficient oxidation technology for industrial applications, further enhances the environmental efficiency of wastewater treatment. ”A relevant official from the company’s production planning department explained. The High-Efficiency Oxidation Industrial Application Project is a key research and application project developed by the company to enhance the wastewater treatment capacity of its brine treatment facilities. During the treatment process in high-salinity water treatment systems, some refractory organic compounds make their way into the subsequent membrane treatment systems, resulting in increased energy consumption and affecting the overall operational efficiency of the system. To address this technical challenge, the company conducted industry research and carried out technical comparisons, and ultimately decided to adopt the UV/ozone coupled advanced oxidation process technology developed by the China Institute of Rock and Mineral Sciences. By making technical modifications to the ozone contact tanks for high-salinity water reduction, building on existing facilities, an efficient oxidation system was developed to specifically address the issues of membrane fouling and increased energy consumption caused by refractory organic substances in high-salinity water. In addition, the company has also taken a series of technical improvement and innovation measures, such as developing an information platform for water management, extending the operation cycle of the multi-media filters at the primary desalination plants, and optimizing the backup condensate system for methanol air separation, in order to work together to continuously strengthen the foundation for improving water management efficiency. “Uncovering benefits through the “water efficiency account”: Recently, Ningxia Energy Chemical Company received a special award for its project aimed at the efficient and sustainable use of water resources in the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base in Ningxia. This award is an acknowledgment of the company’s efforts to promote water conservation and emission reduction, as well as to improve the efficiency of water use, further highlighting the company’s role as a model in the process of green transformation. Over the years, the company has firmly upheld the philosophy that \"all costs can be controlled,\" established comprehensive water-saving management systems and evaluation mechanisms, and developed a water management framework focused on achieving practical results and sustainable outcomes. Through continuous optimization of water-saving targets, upgrading of water utilization facilities, and enhanced recycling of resources such as condensate and recycled water, the reuse rate of industrial water has remained above 98.5%. For three consecutive years, it has ranked among the top three in China Petrochemical’s water management competitions, while the variable costs associated with different types of water have decreased both on a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. Furthermore, by successfully implementing market-based trading of water rights, the company has explored a virtuous development pathway of \"water conservation and efficiency improvement – water rights trading – reinvestment of profits\". This innovative approach not only helped reduce costs by 6 million yuan but also provided a replicable and scalable model for the optimal allocation of regional water resources. Everyone works together to compose a \"song of water conservation.\" On November 25th, in the Model Worker Innovation Studio of the Public Works Operations Department, leader Wang Zhipeng was explaining to reporters the achievements of the industrial application of the \"three-alkali method.\" This is a vivid illustration of Ningxia Nenghua integrating water-saving concepts into its daily operations and using technological innovation to promote the efficient use of water resources. In recent years, the company has continued to strengthen water resource management by clarifying the water-saving responsibilities of various departments, thereby fostering a closed-loop management system characterized by clear responsibilities, effective measures, adequate investment, and proper supervision and evaluation. Driven by this mechanism, various innovation teams led by Wang Zhipeng have successively developed a series of innovative achievements such as the industrial application of the \"three-alkali method\" and technological upgrades for side filters in acetic acid circulating water systems. These efforts have not only solved practical problems in production but also significantly enhanced the company’s core technical competitiveness in the field of water conservation. Water conservation management is not only the responsibility of technical personnel but also a conscious action taken by every frontline employee. To this end, Ningxia Energy Chemicals actively promotes monthly team cost accounting competitions, breaking down key indicators such as standard ionized water consumption and the rate of water replenishment down to individual positions and assigning them to specific people, so that every employee can have a clear understanding of their own water usage data. This helps to transform awareness of water conservation into precise actions in daily operations. This initiative greatly boosted the enthusiasm of everyone, from technical experts to operators, to get involved; it created a situation in which all staff paid attention to the relevant indicators and worked together to reduce consumption, thus serving as a key driving force for the company to improve water efficiency. At the same time, they made great efforts to integrate party building work with the core business activities. Through initiatives such as \"Party members taking the lead in tackling challenges\" and \"Ensuring no leaks among Party members,\" they thoroughly identified the areas where water efficiency was lost in the facilities. By giving full play to the exemplary role of Party member leaders, they encouraged everyone to contribute ideas to solve these problems related to water efficiency loss, thus fostering a strong culture of water conservation.