A flash explosion occurred during the startup preparation after maintenance of the old ethylene cracker in Unit 2 of the Olefins Department at Shanghai Petrochemical
Thread Content
According to a post on @ShanghaiPetrochemicalOnline’s Weibo account, at 8:26 on May 29th, a flash explosion occurred in the cracking furnace at Unit 2 of Shanghai Petrochemical’s olefin plant during preparations for restart after maintenance work, resulting in 8 people being injured. The victims were promptly taken to hospitals for treatment. At present, the fire at the scene has been extinguished, and the cause of the incident is under investigation. ???
Shanghai Petrochemical started producing ethylene early on and is one of the major ethylene producers in China. After its completion in July 1977, it became China’s largest modern petrochemical production base at that time. The commissioning of the first ethylene plant with an annual capacity of 115,000 tons has played a positive role in promoting the development of China’s chemical industry. In April 1990, the construction of Phase III of Shanghai Petrochemical was completed, and a 300,000-ton ethylene plant came online. The total ethylene production of Shanghai Petrochemical reached 415,000 tons, pushing China’s total ethylene production above 2 million tons and ranking it eighth in the world at that time. In April 2002, the fourth phase of Shanghai Petrochemical’s expansion project, led by a 700,000-ton ethylene upgrade project, was fully completed and put into operation, adding 300,000 tons of ethylene capacity and raising the total ethylene production to over 800,000 tons. Thereafter, in response to Shanghai’s calls for energy conservation and emission reduction, in November 2013, Sinopec Shanghai shut down Unit 1, the ethylene plant that had made significant contributions to addressing the clothing needs of people across the country. Due to the phased construction of the facilities, at present, Units 2 and 3 of the olefin complex at Shanghai Petrochemical are located in the old area and the new area respectively, sharing 3 control rooms.
I’m curious whether it’s a flash explosion inside the furnace or in the pipes
According to official information from Sinopec Shanghai, the raw material pipeline