How many refining and petrochemical facilities of Sinopec are equipped with SZorb units? Do none of CNPC’s refining and petrochemical facilities have such units?
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Wuhan Petrochemical SZorb Unit: Technical Innovations for Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings – SEI Editorial Department, Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Design, 2018-08-09. On August 2nd, the SZorb unit at Wuhan Petrochemical’s Second Workshop celebrated its second anniversary since its commissioning; no unplanned shutdowns have occurred during these two years； In the headquarters’ competitions for similar devices, its cumulative ranking rose from 20th at the beginning of 2018 to 3rd. At the beginning of the year, the company, in collaboration with Workshop 2, carried out intensive technical efforts. By installing an online descaling system and using nitrogen for heat extraction instead of deoxygenated water, they resolved the issue of poor discharge during the regeneration process of the SZorb unit. This approach significantly reduced the consumption of adsorbents, generating savings of over 2 million yuan per year; it also allowed for 300 cubic meters of nitrogen to be saved per hour, with electricity consumption decreasing by 0.85 kilowatt-hours per ton. To reduce the impact of fluctuations in gas pipeline pressure on the furnace used in the equipment, at the beginning of March the workshop changed the source of gas for the furnace, introducing the non-condensable gas produced by the stabilizer tower into it. This ensured stable operation of the furnace and reduced gas consumption by 80 cubic meters per hour. The workshop monitors daily data in real time and continuously optimizes operating parameters, ensuring a desulfurization rate of over 99% while keeping the octane loss within 0.4 ； Increasing the temperature of the feed gasoline entering the unit reduced the gas consumption of the heater by 10% ； Lowering the temperature at the bottom of the stabilizer reduces steam consumption by 10 tons per hour.
In 2018, Unit 2 of the S-Zorb facility at Jinling Petrochemical continued to optimize its production processes, operate it with care, and seek ways to reduce costs; the results were significant, with various technical and economic indicators reaching good levels. It ranked first in the competition among similar facilities at the headquarters. Last year, the staff responsible for the company’s S-Zorb unit established an optimization task force, ensuring safety while working to improve production processes, strive to reduce energy and material consumption, and enhance the lean management level of the unit. To reduce octane loss, the task force carried out process optimizations through measures such as controlling the sulfur content in the product, refining the boundary conditions of key operational parameters, and organizing a \"competition to reduce hydrogen consumption in the plant\", thereby effectively cutting down octane loss. Last year, the octane number loss for the two sets of S-Zorb units decreased by an average of 0.2 units compared to the previous year. To reduce the consumption of adsorbents, the task force took multiple measures to improve adsorbent management: by stabilizing the sulfur content in the raw gasoline, it prevented fluctuations in the desulfurization load from affecting the regeneration efficiency of the adsorbents. Isolate the external water from the production system, and install blind flanges at areas such as the purge steam and washing water on-site where cross-contamination may occur, to prevent water vapor from entering the adsorption tower and causing the adsorbent to become inactive. At the same time, they stepped up inspections of the regenerative heat extraction coils to prevent leaks within the coils that could lead to an influx of large amounts of water. Furthermore, they reduced the generation of reaction water by optimizing the boundary conditions of key operational parameters such as the adsorbent circulation rate and the circulating hydrogen volume. In terms of energy conservation in the equipment, they developed detailed energy-saving plans, implemented precise management of energy usage, set specific energy consumption targets for each set of equipment, and carried out a series of optimizations for the operation of devices such as heating furnaces, electric heaters, and stabilization towers, striving to reduce energy consumption as much as possible. Through diligent efforts, the two sets of S-Zorb units operated stably at high load levels throughout the year, achieving good performance in all relevant metrics. A total of over 2.79 million tons of crude gasoline were processed, thereby ensuring a stable supply of clean gasoline in the market. (Chen Pingxuan Zhang Sheng)
Zhenhai Refining & Chemical establishes a fault handling mechanism to ensure supply of National VI gasoline 2019-01-22 Source: Sinopec News Network Print article Petrochemical news In January, one of the S-zorb units at Zhenhai Refining & Chemical replaced two programmable valves as planned in just about 2 hours, which is 1 hour less than the original time required; this reduction allowed for the avoidance of the production of 150 tons of substandard gasoline. One set and two sets of S-zorb units are the core facilities for the production of National VI gasoline at Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co., with a total of over 60 programmable control valves in these two sets of units. During the operation of the device, the programmable valve operates frequently, once every 20 minutes, which leads to rapid wear and requires periodic replacement; this, in turn, affects the steady production of National VI gasoline. Through years of exploration, practice, and experience accumulation, the Operations Department has now established an efficient and organized mechanism for handling faults in programmable valves. The technical team has strengthened the tracking of the service life of programmable valves, and formulates preventive maintenance plans for them based on operating conditions and runtime. During the operation of programmable valves, real-time monitoring should be carried out to detect issues early and enable the formulation of replacement plans in a timely manner. It is also necessary to prepare spare parts in advance, coordinate with instrumentation and maintenance teams, conduct risk assessments for the operations, and implement appropriate safety measures. The establishment of a failure handling mechanism for programmable valves has effectively reduced the time required to replace them, ensuring the stable production of the company’s Tier 6 gasoline. (Tian Yuanheng, Hu Haiyan)
Maoming Petrochemical: Making Every Effort to Ensure Supply to the Market and Maintain Higher Quality of Oil Products 2018-12-10 Source: Sinopec News Network Print Article Petrochemical News On July 1, Maoming Petrochemical supplied diesel meeting National VI standards to the Guangdong market for the first time, and on August 31 it supplied gasoline meeting National VI standards there as well; thus it is now in a position to supply gasoline and diesel meeting National VI standards throughout Guangdong Province within this year. The refining division of Maoming Petrochemical continues to strive for excellence in lean management, and on the basis of fully completing the upgrade to National VI standard gasoline and diesel in advance, it keeps working to improve the quality of these upgraded fuels. To supply the market with gasoline and diesel of the highest quality meeting National VI standards, the refining division pays close attention to the improved specifications of the fuels. They have optimized the operating mode of Unit 1 hydrogen cracker, increased the reaction pressure, and thereby raised the conversion rate of gasoline as well as its octane rating. Efforts were made to optimize the blending formulas; strict control was applied to the aromatic content in gasoline. The operation of the two SZorb units was optimized, and the MTBE unit was operated at its maximum capacity. While reducing the olefin content in gasoline, efforts were also made to increase the octane rating of its components. In November, the octane rating of the gasoline produced by the No. 1 SZorb unit reached 93.6, an increase of 0.5 units compared to October. At the end of October, employees of Catalyst Unit 2 conducted an emergency drill regarding the issue of water in the feedstock causing overpressure in the distillation tower and resulting in the gasoline dry point not meeting the specifications. The branches have established a comprehensive emergency response mechanism for the quality of National VI gasoline and diesel. Frontline employees are tasked with creating their own daily operation sheets for maintaining the quality of gasoline and diesel, as well as emergency response cards for handling quality-related issues. Control over the key quality indicators related to National VI gasoline and diesel is implemented at the workshop, team, and individual employee levels, thereby enhancing employees’ ability to respond effectively to quality incidents. In addition, the branch has made continuous efforts to overcome technical challenges related to the quality of gasoline and diesel, and has actively promoted the implementation of new projects aimed at improving product quality. Previously, the hydrogen used in Units 1 and 2 of SZorb (catalytic desulfurization of gasoline) mainly came from the hydrogen-rich light gas from Unit 1, and operational fluctuations could easily affect the quality of gasoline. The branch unit carried out specialized efforts to address this bottleneck and determined that the hydrogen released from wax oil hydroprocessing could meet the hydrogen requirements of the SZorb unit. Through technical upgrades, the wax processing release gas was used to feed Unit 1 of the SZorb unit in late October. As a result, with the new hydrogen consumption of the unit fully meeting the production needs, the octane loss of National VI gasoline decreased from 1.3 to 0.6. By early December, front-line employees in the branches had identified a total of 26 potential quality issues related to various types of gasoline and diesel, and carried out more than 10 initiatives aimed at improving quality after the upgrades, thus laying a solid foundation for effectively enhancing the quality of gasoline and diesel following those upgrades. (Liu Liting, Wu Chunping)
World’s first S-Zorb unit waste heat generator set comes online lyjsygc 2015-12-23 According to Sinopec News Network (Wang Guigen), the world’s first S-Zorb unit waste heat generator set, designed by an engineering construction company, has now been operating at full capacity at Yanshan Petrochemical. All technical parameters meet the design specifications, marking successful development and industrial application of the S-Zorb unit waste heat generation technology by Sinopec. As the service provider for engineering design and system optimization of this integrated technology package, the Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. organized cross-disciplinary efforts to develop the waste heat power generation technology for the S-Zorb unit. It was for the first time that the thermal source from the process stream (gasoline at the bottom of the tower) was directly fed into the evaporator of the ORC organic Rankine cycle generator set. Moreover, it achieved an integration of the modular design and manufacturing of the waste heat generator set with those of the S-Zorb unit, laying the foundation for the widespread adoption of this technology package. In the No. 2 1.2 million tons per year S-Zorb unit at Yanshan Petrochemical, which utilizes this complete set of technologies, the temperature of the gasoline at the bottom of the stabilizer is between 135 and 150 degrees Celsius; previously, cooling was achieved through methods such as air coolers and circulating water coolers. The technicians have designed a load of around 6 megawatts for the low-temperature waste heat of this tower; ORC organic Rankine cycle power generation technology is used to recover this waste heat, which can meet about 50% of the facility’s electricity demand. This approach significantly reduces the facility’s energy consumption and operating costs, allowing for the savings of 1,600 tons of standard coal per year, as well as a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 4,224 tons per year. It thus offers good energy-saving and economic benefits. The development of complete sets of technologies for low-temperature waste heat power generation is an important technical means and measure for Sinopec to implement its \"doubling energy efficiency\" plan. It can be widely applied to the recovery of waste heat from process streams such as gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and condensed water in the process units of all petrochemical enterprises, where similar temperature conditions exist; thus, it holds significant strategic importance for Sinopec, as well as for the entire petrochemical and coal chemical industries in China, in terms of making use of low-temperature waste heat and achieving energy conservation and emission reduction. At present, the Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. is actively promoting the application of waste heat power generation technologies. It is currently working on the ORC waste heat power generation design for Unit 2’s S-Zorb unit at Changling Refining & Chemical Plant, and is also collaborating with Anqing Petrochemical to develop design plans for ORC waste heat power generation projects for three other units: the S-Zorb unit, the diesel hydrogenation unit, and Unit 3’s acidic water stripping unit. (Excerpt from Sinopec News Network)
Wujian Company awarded the title of ‘Outstanding Contractor’ for its work on the Sinochem Refining and Chemical Integration Project 2018-11-02 Source: Sinopec News Network Print article Petrochemical news According to a report from Sinopec News Network, on October 17, Wujian Company of the Refining and Chemical Engineering Group was honored with the title of ‘Outstanding Contractor’ by the General Contracting Company (SEI) for its contributions to the construction of the Sinochem Refining and Chemical Integration Project. Since the commencement of work on the 200,000/350,000 tons per year polypropylene plant, the 2.4 million tons per year gasoline adsorption (S-zorb) plant, and related supporting projects as part of the Sinochem Refining and Chemical Integration Project, undertaken by Wujian Company, in mid-June, the project management team has been actively implementing the standard site guidelines for Sinochem projects. They have pursued standardized and regulated construction methods, continuously improving the standards of quality and safety management; the quality management system and safety system are now operating properly. Through continuous exploration and optimization of the construction team, 390 workers are currently employed in the four main construction areas; all tasks are being carried out in an orderly manner, and construction progress, as well as safety and quality control, are under effective management. To date, 38% of the construction work for the 350,000 tons per year polypropylene plant has been completed. Specifically, 33,900 cubic meters of earthwork have been excavated, representing 80.14% of the total required, while 2,800.11 cubic meters of concrete have been poured, accounting for 35.7% of the total required ； The construction progress of the 200,000 tons/year polypropylene plant is 30% complete: 31,800 cubic meters of earthwork have been excavated, representing 75% of the total, while 2,199.44 cubic meters of concrete have been poured, accounting for 29% of the total work done so far ； The construction progress of the 2.4 million tons/year S-Zorb plant is 70% complete: a total of 10,680 cubic meters of earthwork has been excavated, representing 80% of the planned amount, and 1,980 cubic meters of concrete has been poured, accounting for 87% of the required volume. (Zhang Guowei)
S-Zorb is a Sinopec patent, so it is estimated that the process package will not be made available externally for now.
Then here comes the question: What processes does CNPC use to upgrade oil products?
By “rolling up our sleeves and working hard”. . .
There are also many processes for gasoline hydrogenation. Not many local refineries in Shandong use this process; France and the United States have such technologies