【Haichuan’s Insights from Other Sources】Guangzhou Petrochemical Successfully Completed In-Depth Maintenance of Ethylene UPS System

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Guangzhou Petrochemical Successfully Completed In-depth Maintenance of Ethylene UPS 2019-01-15 Source: Sinopec News Network Recently, with the ethylene UPS returning to normal inverter operation after being on large bypass mode, it was indicated that the in-depth maintenance work on the ethylene UPS by Guangzhou Petrochemical’s Power Department was completed a day ahead of schedule. Through thorough maintenance, the safety risks posed by the UPS that could cause plant shutdowns were eliminated, thereby improving the reliability of the process system. The ethylene UPS is an essential piece of equipment in chemical cracking units, and it is imported entirely from Germany. This model of UPS is the only one of its kind at Guangzhou Petrochemical, with no backup units available. The ethylene UPS supplies power to the instruments in the ethylene plant; any power outage or voltage fluctuation can cause multiple units such as those for ethylene cracking, separation, vaporization, and butadiene production to stop operating, thereby affecting the production of various downstream units in the entire chemical complex. Therefore, the safe and reliable operation of this equipment is directly related to the stable operation of all the units in the chemical complex. In accordance with the company’s production management requirements, the Power Division carries out annual comprehensive maintenance on the ethylene UPS. In addition to routine cleaning and inspections, this includes the replacement of capacitors on the rectifier side, capacitors on the inverter side, inverter trigger boards, K7 contactors, and cooling fans – tasks that present significant challenges for the Power Division. To ensure the smooth completion of the in-depth maintenance, the Power Division held multiple discussions with the UPS manufacturer to develop a plan for such maintenance. A working group was established, project leaders at both the workshop and team levels were assigned, and together with the construction team, detailed construction plans were developed. Relevant personnel from the Chemical Engineering Department, Instrumentation and Control Center, Production Regulation Department, and Mechanical Department were organized to conduct risk assessments and formulate appropriate preventive measures. All tasks were carried out in strict accordance with the requirements of the \"Eight Implementations\", enabling extensive preliminary preparations to be made for the in-depth maintenance. During the power outages and restorations of the ethylene UPS system, supervision was provided on-site at both the Power Department and the workshop levels; emergency personnel from the First Chemical Engineering Department and the Instrumentation and Control Center were on standby to ensure a safe and stable operation process. During UPS maintenance, special monitoring procedures must be strictly followed; before starting the large motors, it is necessary to ensure that the overall voltage in the chemical processing area is above 6.2 kV. During startup, a dedicated person should be assigned to monitor the meters located in the ethylene UPS bypass cabinet, and emergency preparations must be in place. The maintenance staff of Jianan Company and the relevant personnel from its Power Division worked tirelessly, putting in extra hours to carry out their tasks continuously. To address technical challenges such as those related to difficult disassembly, they organized party members and key personnel to work on solving these issues, and ensured that the quality of each construction step was carefully checked and verified. (Rong Haoran, Huang Shaoyi, He Ying)