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Editor’s Note: Faced with various challenges such as fluctuations in raw material prices and intensifying market competition, reducing costs and improving efficiency has become a key priority for petrochemical companies in order to break through these difficulties and build competitive advantages. In the face of these challenges, a number of petrochemical companies are using technological innovation as a driving force and management optimization as a means to fully tap into the potential for energy savings and reduced consumption, thereby laying a solid foundation for high-quality development of their businesses. This edition features a series of reports titled \"New Practices for Petrochemical Companies to Reduce Costs and Improve Efficiency\", aimed at showcasing outstanding examples, measures, and methods used by successful companies to achieve this goal, thereby providing insights and guidance for the industry to enhance its performance and move forward steadily. “We actively utilized the remaining sulfiding agents from the major maintenance work in Refinery Unit 1, achieving efficient recycling and reducing procurement costs by 320,000 yuan. ”On December 2, Xie Quan, deputy manager of Unit 1 for ethylene production at China National Petroleum Corporation’s Dushanzi Petrochemical Company, said that this is another example of the company’s efforts to reduce costs and increase efficiency in recent times. Since 2025, faced with prominent supply and demand imbalances in refined oil products and intensifying market competition, Dushanzi Petrochemical has followed the \"Four Precisions\" philosophy as a guide, and further implemented the \"Six Optimizations and One Control\" production and operation strategy. It has made thorough efforts in optimizing crude oil sources, processing routes, product structures, and plant operations, while also focusing on cost control in order to continuously enhance its value creation capabilities. To date, it has achieved savings of over 1.1 billion yuan this year alone. “\"Twist the towel\" – extract every last bit of excess cost. On November 17th, temperatures in northern Xinjiang dropped significantly, yet the air separation refrigerators in the Public Works Department of Dushanzi Petrochemical operated smoothly. This year, Dushanzi Petrochemical focused on optimizing the oils specifically designed for refrigerators, achieving oil substitution and saving 110,000 yuan in costs while improving efficiency. This is a typical example of Dushanzi Petrochemical squeezing out real funds from its regular expenses related to material consumption. Faced with challenges such as high energy consumption and difficulties in cost control in the refining and chemical industry, Dushanbe Petrochemical assembled a capable team to conduct a systematic review and in-depth analysis of the entire value chain, from raw material procurement to product delivery. It developed a list of projects aimed at improving quality and efficiency across all stages of the process, in order to identify problems accurately and apply targeted solutions. Previously, the new and old ethylene plants at Dushanzi Petrochemical each had their own air separation units; on one hand, there was an excess of nitrogen, while on the other hand, operating the units at reduced capacity led to high costs. Inside this “wet towel” lies a huge amount of moisture. To address this issue, Dushanzi Petrochemical optimized the sharing of nitrogen resources through pipeline modifications. With this \"twist,\" shutting down just one air separation unit can save considerable electricity costs each year. Similar \"towel-twisting\" measures are implemented throughout the entire company: thermal power plants carefully analyze the cost differences between power generated internally and power purchased from external sources, dynamically optimizing the operation of their units to effectively reduce the proportion of expensive power purchased from outside ； The rubber department conducts in-depth research on the technological mechanisms; by ensuring product quality, it precisely adjusts the process parameters to achieve a continuous reduction in steam consumption. “\"Uncovering treasures\" – unlocking every potential value. On November 8, Dushanzi Petrochemical’s 800,000 tons per year coking coal hydrogenation unit was put back into operation after maintenance, 43 hours earlier than planned. “By advancing ahead of the original plan, we achieved savings of 76,500 yuan due to reduced hydrogen emissions. ”Niu Ben, a first-level engineer at Refining Department 1, said that this seemingly simple \"two-day speed increase\" is a vivid illustration of the \"treasure hunting\" concept in production scheduling. Technological innovation is the most powerful tool for \"digging for treasures\". Faced with the challenges of long procurement cycles and high prices for imported catalysts, Dushanbe Petrochemical established a task force to accelerate the substitution with domestic alternatives. Polyolefins Division was the first to achieve large-scale domestic use of key catalysts in the production of high-value products, thereby significantly reducing procurement costs ； Through thorough technical testing and data accumulation, the Rubber Department enhanced its bargaining power in procurement negotiations, successfully reducing the purchase prices of related additives. Digital technology is like a “treasure map,” guiding the way toward optimization and increased efficiency. Ethylene Unit utilized process simulation software to swiftly carry out technical upgrades, resulting in an overall increase in production of products such as butene-1 and methyl tert-butyl ether of over 1,000 tons ； The Mechanical, Electrical and Instrumentation Operations and Maintenance Center developed its own control logic to modify imported refrigerators, achieving a breakthrough in terms of monitoring capabilities from scratch and thereby saving substantial operational costs. The optimization and adjustment of the product structure is about tapping into market demand. The Planning and Operations Department works in close collaboration with the Marketing and Logistics Department to stay attentive to market trends: in the first quarter, production of linear film materials was increased to meet the demand during the peak season in Xinjiang; mid-year, polypropylene production was boosted to satisfy the needs of the infrastructure sector. Moreover, proactive efforts are being made in the field of new energy, with adjustments to the production schedule for lithium battery separators, so as to make high-end products a new source of growth. The efficient use of resources is itself a “treasure”. Ethylene Department fine-tunes the operating conditions of the C3 hydrogenation reactor to increase propylene production while ensuring safety ； Department 1 for Storage and Transportation has innovatively adopted a strategy of \"stockpiling during off-peak periods and using the stock during peak periods,\" and by adapting the existing storage tanks, it saves a large amount of money on purchases each year. These measures all aim to extract real value from seemingly ordinary processes. “\"Precision detailing\" helps to ensure steady improvement in quality and efficiency. \"Lower the ambient temperature to -15°C, and conduct thorough inspections of the insulation layers and heating systems of the safety valves used with aqueous media!\" As winter sets in, Refining Unit 1 adopts a meticulous approach, formulating specialized inspection plans for temperatures at 0°C, -10°C, -15°C, -20°C, and -25°C. It also carries out temperature measurements at key locations such as glass plate level gauges and safety valves for aqueous media, using \"millimeter-level\" control measures to ensure the stable operation of the equipment. This is a vivid illustration of Dushanzi Petrochemical using lean management to ensure improved quality and efficiency. Dushanzi Petrochemical integrates lean thinking into all aspects of its production and operations, tapping into internal potential in areas such as investment control and resource allocation to support high-quality development. Departments such as finance, production, and technology take the lead in establishing a comprehensive cost control system across the entire process. A dynamic tracking mechanism for the processing costs of C8 residue oil is put in place, and measures such as optimizing raw material ratios and improving product yields are employed to achieve a continuous reduction in processing costs per unit. In response to the growing demand for improved water resource utilization, relevant departments have systematically identified key points of water use, and have adopted measures such as recycled water recovery and the replacement of water-saving equipment to significantly enhance the efficiency of water use. When thermal power plants advance photovoltaic molten salt energy storage projects, they conduct multiple rounds of comparison and optimization of technical solutions, thereby reducing construction costs significantly while maintaining the core functions of such systems – achieving a win-win situation of cost reduction and promotion of transformation ； In the design of the newly built wax oil hydrogenation unit, wax oil has been innovatively used as a substitute for diesel as the sealing flush fluid, and the accompanying heating furnace has been discontinued. This approach not only saves on equipment investment and operational energy consumption but also reduces the pressure associated with steam balance; it is expected that the costs of this modification can be recouped within a few months.