【Safety Inspection】Are there really so many problems at CNOOC Zhongjie Petrochemical?

During its inspection of the enterprise’s production facilities that fall under the category of “two key points and one major item”, as well as the devices for detecting and alerting to leaks of flammable and toxic gases, the emergency shut-off devices, and the automated control systems, the expert group found that the emergency shut-off valves used in the enterprise’s crude oil storage area and gasoline storage area for triggering shutdowns due to high liquid levels were actually fail-safe electric valves. It is understood that nearly 50 storage tanks for various types of oil products in the company’s new facility use such electric valves, and the company’s staff see no issue with this.

The expert then briefed the company representatives present on the lessons learned from the explosion and fire incident that occurred on July 16 at Dalian CNPC International Storage and Transportation Co., Ltd., pointing out that **the \"Design Code for Safety Instrumented Systems in Petrochemical Industries\" has been issued, requiring that the safety instrumented systems in petrochemical plants or facilities be designed to be fail-safe.

Experts recommend that companies select pneumatic valves in accordance with relevant standards, or take effective measures to ensure that electric loading/unloading mechanisms have a reliable backup power source in the event of a power outage, so as to enable timely control of the proper operation of the electric valves.

At the liquefied hydrocarbon tank farm, the expert group observed that the emergency shut-off valve for a liquefied petroleum gas tank was a pneumatic valve, equipped with a gas buffer tank. Just as they were about to confirm that the valve selection was correct, the experts noticed that the upper and lower limits of the pressure gauge on this buffer tank were set at 0.1 MPa to 0.6 MPa. “These upper and lower limit settings are incorrect! When the pressure approaches the lower limit, it will no longer meet the requirements for using the instrument, as per the \"Design Specifications for Instrument Gas Supply\", the control range for gas supply pressure should be between 0.5 MPa and 0.7 MPa. ”Experts pointed out, “It’s really unacceptable that you spent so much money upgrading the SIS system and installing emergency shutdown devices, only to make mistakes on this issue!”

The old plant of this company still has 2 polypropylene production lines, with a total capacity of 80,000 tons per year. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the polypropylene market experienced a supply shortage and high prices in the first half of this year. The experts observed in the polypropylene production area that the warehouses were already filled with products, and bags of polypropylene products were piled up on the roads outside the warehouses, next to the two production units, and in front of the propylene gas tanks. “Such random stacking not only results in insufficient fire separation between the devices but also makes it harder to extinguish fires. Polypropylene should be stored in a cool and well-ventilated warehouse, away from sources of fire and heat. ”Experts advise companies to immediately standardize the storage management of polypropylene in order to eliminate safety hazards.

Furthermore, experts identified issues such as the separation between the company’s management systems for changes and their actual implementation, the 700-plus-page hydrogenation process procedures that resembled an encyclopedia, and the emergency fire extinguishing sand in the triethylaluminum storage area being stored deep at the back of that area. The expert group pointed out that these issues all reveal that the enterprise’s safety management level still needs to be improved. (Zhu An Shi Xin)

It originated from Hebei Zhongjie Petrochemical Group Co., Ltd., which was established in 1975. The catalytic cracking units consist of one unit with a capacity of 150,000 tons per year, one with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year, and one with a capacity of 800,000 tons per year; in addition, there is one unit for the hydrogenation of gasoline and diesel with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year. It also possesses chemical production facilities including a plant with a capacity of 250,000 tons per year for gas separation, 50,000 tons per year for MTBE, 30,000 tons per year for ethylbenzene, 80,000 tons per year for polypropylene, and 100,000 tons per year for dimethyl ether. CNOOC Zhongjie Petrochemical Co., Ltd. is a modern integrated refining and chemical enterprise. It originated from Hebei Zhongjie Petrochemical Group Co., Ltd., which was established in 1975. The company currently has 1,788 employees, of whom 34% hold a college degree or higher; the average age is 33.7 years. With total assets of 1.7 billion yuan, it achieved sales revenue of 5.3 billion yuan in 2007, along with profits and taxes amounting to 350 million yuan. It covers an area of 530,000 square meters. The area where it is located is part of the Bohai Sea Economic Circle and the Dagang Oil Field exploitation zone. It is connected to Tianjin Binhai New Area, which was designated as a key development area under the 11th Five-Year Plan, to the north; it is linked to Huanghua Port to the south, and to Tanggu Port to the east. It is 260 nautical miles away from Incheon Port in South Korea and 900 nautical miles away from Kyushu Port in Japan. The area enjoys convenient transportation facilities, with highways, national roads, and railways all available, giving it significant advantages in terms of location for development.

The note indicates that Zhongjie Petrochemical has not fully understood the **requirements and has not given them sufficient attention.

All of this was designed by some experts; how can one still be so bold? Acting in this way will inevitably lead to problems. Following standard design principles is the minimum requirement.

It was originally a private company before being acquired; there were no initial requirements for design, but they later appeared