[Overseas petrochemical project tour] Kuwait Azul Refinery - the largest refinery built at one time in the world

Sinopec News Network reported that on April 2, the first sequence of atmospheric distillation unit (U01) and system pipe bridge (U74) of the Kuwait Azul Refinery Project, which was constructed by the EPC general contracting of a consortium formed by Sinopec Refining and Chemical Engineering Group Luoyang Engineering Company, Spanish TR Company, and South Korean Hanwha Corporation, achieved project delivery. From then on, the project will gradually carry out the handover of other devices and units. It is expected that by the end of 2019, a total of 15 sets of devices in three sequences of the project, as well as supporting process pipe networks, buildings, etc. will all meet the conditions for handover of the project. The atmospheric distillation unit of CCCC is mainly used to provide raw materials for downstream units. After the light components at the top of the tower are purified by the saturated gas treatment unit, fuel gas, liquefied petroleum gas and other products are produced. ； The middle distillate is refined by a naphtha hydrogenation unit, a kerosene hydrogenation unit, and a diesel hydrogenation unit before leaving the factory as a finished product. ； After the heavy components are hydrotreated and cooled by the heavy oil cooling device, they are mainly used as fuel oil for power plants. The system pipe bridge connects 15 sets of process equipment and is connected to public works, tank areas, etc. Its commissioning is the basis for the start-up of the equipment. Kuwait's Azul Refinery has a designed primary processing capacity of 31.5 million tons per year and will be the largest refinery in the Middle East upon completion.

Taking over the Azul refinery project in Kuwait is the first time that the Refining and Chemical Engineering Group has formed a consortium with two international engineering companies. An important reason for attracting the "olive branch" from world-class engineering companies is the Refinery and Chemical Engineering Group's complete industrial chain and first-class on-site management and construction capabilities. In this project contract, the Fifth Construction Company under the Refining and Chemical Engineering Group undertook the construction and installation of a total of 6 sets of crude oil distillation and residual oil hydrodesulfurization units, becoming the largest subcontractor on the project site. Wang Zhiwei, project manager of the Azul Refinery of the Fifth Construction Company, is an "old overseas" with 12 years of on-site construction management experience in Saudi Arabia. When he first came here, he still felt very uncomfortable.: “The scale is larger than previous projects. At its peak, there were more than 5,000 on-site workers on the project. In addition to half of the Chinese employees, there were thousands of employees from Vietnam, India, Nepal, Pakistan and other countries. ” The surface temperature in Kuwait can reach up to 70 degrees Celsius in summer. The country's law stipulates that outdoor construction operations are prohibited from 11:00 to 16:00 in June, July and August every year. The construction time of the Fifth Construction Company had to be adjusted to the sleepy night shift. The efficiency of the night shift dropped to 70% of that of the day shift, and how to speed up the progress became the primary issue. In order to reduce unnecessary communication costs, Wang Zhiwei and his colleagues hired three local software engineers to independently develop and build a project management platform. All employees entered management, material, financial and other data on the same platform. The data of nearly 30,000 welding joints was in order, changing the previous dilemma of employees "asking for data" everywhere. Not only * * It reduces duplication of work by project managers and provides strong protection for project settlement and claims. Now, the construction progress of the project department of the Fifth Construction Company is in the leading position among subcontractors, and the current progress has reached more than 50%. “The highest level of construction is to use construction to drive EPCC general contracting. In the tide of 'going global', we must bravely be the vanguard! ”Wang Zhiwei is confident. Working with well-known engineering companies day and night, Sinopec employees won praises from partners for their professionalism and dedication. Walking into the on-site office area of ​​the consortium of the Azul Refinery Project in Kuwait, Spanish, Chinese and Korean were interwoven with an intense work rhythm, and the clean desktop demonstrated the efficiency and neatness of paperless office. As a joint general contractor with Spanish TR and South Korean Hanwha Corporation, Luoyang Engineering Company, the executive body of the refining and chemical engineering group, faced not only the highest standards and requirements of the owner in similar projects, but also challenges in communication, management, collaboration, and operation. Employees of Luoyang Engineering Company start with details and constantly innovate ideas to improve management efficiency. Project site safety management is very strict, and safety director Shi Tianxiong has to enter 800 to 1,000 HSE observations every week. Shi Tianxiong used his previous knowledge of Excel to update the old template and draw up formulas. He no longer needed to move the cursor back and forth when typing, which saved a lot of time and energy, and reduced work pressure while increasing observation items. “You Chinese are really geniuses! ”the Spanish manager said excitedly. Saving money and reducing costs and fees are also Sinopec's special skills. Employees of the consortium told reporters that when the entire factory road was excavated for the first time, the foreign company in the consortium believed that it was a temporary construction road and could not be carried out in accordance with the owner's specifications. However, civil engineering manager Tan Guichu said that if the construction is carried out in accordance with the official road requirements from the beginning, in the future only the surface asphalt will be removed to build a formal production road, which can save a lot of construction time and costs. Under his insistence, the consortium finally unified the excavation and backfill compaction in accordance with the official roadbed specifications, saving a lot of costs, saving effective off-peak time during the peak construction period, and avoiding the risk of cross-operation to the greatest extent. Slowly, professionalism and dedication have become synonymous with Sinopec employees in the consortium. A local company offered an olive branch to a Sinopec employee and wanted to poach him, but the employee declined: “I am still willing to stay in SINOPEC! ” At present, the business areas of the Refining and Chemical Engineering Group have gradually expanded from traditional design, construction and EPC general contracting to early stage consulting, project planning, financing arrangements, and even full-process engineering services that provide customers with "one-stop" overall solutions. In 2017, the Refining and Chemical Engineering Group had 13 overseas * * It has implemented 50 projects in various regions, with overseas revenue accounting for nearly 40% of the company's total revenue, and high-end business such as design and EPC accounting for 80% of newly signed overseas project contracts.

Guangzhou Engineering Company has also established a foothold in the international market.